


Hunkuary 2020

by EsperKitty



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Don't know what I'm doing, Don't know who else to tag, Fluff and Angst and Feels, Gen, Mild Language, some OCs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:14:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 44,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22073101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EsperKitty/pseuds/EsperKitty
Summary: Hunk's birthday month! Prompts provided by tumblr user @hunkuary (link: hunkuary.tumblr.com). We got some fluff, we got some feels, we got a bit of angst, all centered around Hunk. Enjoy!
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	1. First Impressions

Hunk wiped his hands on his pants again, though he was sure the fabric wasn't taking after the countless prior wipes.

He sat up front, partially because he liked the front seat and partially because Kim came down with a stomach virus and promised to make it up to him if Hunk would let the teacher know and get all the classwork for him.

Some faces looked familiar. There was Peter Stark, sitting by the wall and talking to the kid in front of him, some dude with bushy hair and freckles. Surprising, considering Hunk knew Peter to be just as if not more awkward than himself.

Charlotte-or rather, Charlie-who was class president during general training, had taken a seat near the back of the class room, which Hunk thought to be odd considering her previous status. Maybe it got too much for her? Didn't seem so, considering her calm expression as she focused on her phone.

Thomas was sitting up front, a few seats away from Hunk, but had turned in his seat to face his buddies, Malcolm and Andy, sitting behind him.

At that, Hunk mentally groaned. Those three were in his class again. It was statistically probable, but Hunk was seriously doubting whether or not those three would know a multimeter from a calculator even if it hit them in the head.

"Hey there Hunk," Thomas noticed Hunk was looking in his direction. "Looking forward to sharing lunch with you again!" He smiled.

"Yeah." Hunk rolled his eyes and turned away. "Really looking forward to that."

Not really, he thought to himself.

Taking another look at the board, he saw signs of the teacher being there once before. Chicken scratch writing, a previous lesson perhaps. A scuffed up messenger bag sitting by the desk.

The teacher, Dougal according to the class schedule, still hadn't come to class. Made sense, if all the jokes about him being a dinosaur were anything to consider.

Looking at the clock, Hunk noticed that it was two minutes past when class was supposed to begin. One more glance at the other students wouldn't hurt, right?

There was Lizz, whose dad worked at the Garrison, sitting near the middle of the class and trying to talk to a new girl Hunk hadn't seen before. She looked a bit like Peter, that is to say completely average. Big brown doe-like eyes, short brown hair tied back with a simple hairband, and some sort of odd piercing in her ea-oh.

Those weren't piercings.

That was the only thought Hunk had when the door suddenly made a noise.

In the next second, seats were being turned back, conversations were hushed, and Hunk felt his hands clamming up again with sweat.

Looks like those rumors were pretty harsh.

Standing before the class was not a dinosaur, but a man at least in his early thirties. Hunk never considered himself to be good at guessing ages, and the way the man glared at everyone as he took his nose out of his book clearly told Hunk that he was too old for any nonsense. His uniform was partially open, the sleeves folded up to his elbows, and smelled heavily of oil, a scent Hunk was familiar with but it still stunk.

Funny how just a second ago, the class was filled with energy. Even Thomas and his group had shut their traps. Not even they would dare tempt fate and get in trouble on the first day.

No, not funny, Hunk thought to himself. More like terrifying.

Either way, the teacher looked at the board, then to the class, one hand scratching his chin, the other loosely holding onto the book.

"So," the teacher began to say, his voice low, pausing as he took another sweeping glance with those hawk-like eyes.

No one, save for a guy sitting by Lizz who foolishly shifted in their seat and made a scraping sound in the process, dared to speak.

"You guys are missing someone?" He looked at the empty seat.

"Yes!" The word flew out of Hunk's mouth before he could stop it. He paused and settled back as much as could despite still being tense. "Kim couldn't make it to class. he told me to let you know and he'd do whatever he needed to make it up."

"Right. 'Kay." Oh no. Excuses probably didn't fly with this instructor. "So the question is..."

The teacher paused again, again looking at the class. Why he looked at them with that suspicious glare in his eyes was something Hunk didn't want to know.

"Look-"

"If I'm working on a reversible engine-" Lizz. No no Lizz, what was she doing? "Should I use the carnot cycle?"

"Carnot is most efficient for a reversible. Irreversible engines have max efficiency though." The teacher answered almost automatically. Probably a basic question he gets asked every year by all the new engineer students. "All right, look-" he half leaned half sat on the desk, resting his arm on his thigh. "Let's start simple. Calorific value, okay?"

As the hour went by, Hunk felt himself relaxing in the teachers presence. As everyone, himself included, shot question after question, it became clear that the teacher wasn't some harsh and unforgiving asshole like some other teachers.

Closed cycle gas turbines. Charles Law. Dual combustion cycles. The Ericsson cycle.

Every question the class had, the teacher managed to explain without sounding like a textbook.

Hell, he had let them answer their own questions after Peter corrected Thomas on something. The teacher swore in joy at that. Was it even legal for teachers to swear? Either way, the class couldn't help but laugh at the sight of Peter Freaking Stark sassing someone, causing the poor boy to turn red as a tomato.

When the next class tried to file in, Hunk registered that the annoying ringing a couple minutes ago was in fact the bell. The class died down in an instant again.

The teacher got that look in his eyes again, that sharp and pointed look, as he stood up from his spot by Peter's desk.

He seemed to... smile?

Hunk wasn't sure if he was seeing things, but the teacher jerked his thumb over his shoulder, just as another older teacher came into the room.

"Okay, get out of here, don't miss your next class." He said matter of fact-ly with the tiniest hint of warning.

Everyone scrambled back to their desks, shoving away books and papers with little care as no one wanted to see what would happen if the next teacher caught them late.

Hunk, however, felt more words in his throats.

Hesitantly, he stayed in the doorway, no doubt blocking some students from entry.

Make it quick! He thought to himself.

"Thanks, professor." Hunk was pressing his index fingers together shyly. "I've never had a class like that before and-thanks." He rushed away, off to his next class and barely getting in his seat as the bell rang again.

The next day, the older man was in class, dealing with some papers.

"Second day and there's already a sub?" Thomas asked Peter and Dexter, the boy he was talking to yesterday.

The class took their seats, murmuring some questions but not exactly asking the man anything.

"I believe I should introduce myself," the old man said as the bell rang and the teacher from before had yet to appear. "I'm Lieutenant Dougal."

"What?" Hunk whispered and looked around, seeing the class had the same reaction.

"Terribly sorry about yesterday," he smirked. "A lunch meeting ran longer than it should have and-"

The door swung open and the teacher from yesterday was standing behind it, a smile on his face, a thick folder under his arm, and a paper in his hand, which he presented to Dougal-Question-Mark.

"You sure about this?" The older man asked the younger-definitely younger, Hunk estimating again to be early thirties.

"I did not spend all night planning lessons for nothing," the younger answered. "Look on the bright side, you got a free hour."

Dougal the Elder smirked and shook his head. "Alright." He turned to the class. "Be nice to the man, he's bit of a scatterbrain. Shirogane," Dougal looked to the other teacher again. "Don't you get these kids into too much trouble."

Shirogane smiled and saluted, setting up his papers on the desk as Dougal left.

The class was silent again, and Hunk could feel his stomach churning. Partially from not knowing what a sudden change in teachers would do to his grade and because he had heard that an engineer by the name of Shirogane was notorious for causing all sorts of trouble.

"So," Shirogane scribbled his name in all capital letters, taking up one corner of the board, and looked back at the class with a smile. "Where did we leave off yesterday?"


	2. Where It All Begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaannndddd right into Batganes(Shiro and Ryou raised by Batman). Not exactly the same canon as Light Catcher(or is it? haha) Shiro shows the Paladins around the Batcave. And once again I might have to link something because Hunk knowing about the Batcave comes from my fic on headspacedad's page: headspacedad.tumblr.com/post/182006155952/surprise
> 
> Enjoy!

The Batcave was much bigger than what Hunk imagined it to be.

It was incredible, to be able to stand where the dreaking Batman and all of his allies stand every night to plan against the seemingly never ending wave of crime that plague Gotham.

Hunk didn't even think about being underneath Wayne Manor.

"Whoa." Hunk looked at the Batmobile, sitting like a proud lion in its den, off to the side of the main platform.

"Stop gawking." Red Hood slapped him on the back of the head.

"Jay be nice." Shiro took a look around, less surprised, and went straight to the large computer, where Red Robin, revealed to be Tim Drake underneath his mask, and Spoiler, a blonde girl who seemed familiar but Hunk couldn't think of a name at the moment, were working.

"Keith!" Lance grabbed Keith's shoulders, pulling him close. "Why didn't you tell us how cool this place was!?"

"Because if everyone knew who Batman was, then we'd be in big trouble." Keith shook off Lance and joined Shiro.

Lance stumbled with his words, looking around in awe again.

"What I would give to pick this bad boy apart," Pidge was looking at the computer with wide eyes.

"You break it, you pay for it." Tim said without looking away from the screen.

Batman was still at the Watchtower, doing some last minute work with the League before coming back. Until then, Shiro and Dick were in charge, and it showed that the two were not so secretly fighting for who gets to really be in charge.

"So kid," Red Hood removed his helmet, revealing the familiar smirking face of Jason Todd underneath. "How's it feel to be in the Cave?"

"It's incredible," Hunk saw the glass cases that held familiar looking outfits. "Are these-" He went in for a closer look.

Sure enough, these were the iconic clothing of Batman and his many Robins. Judging by the number of outfits, the number of people in the cave, and the numerous almost invisible stitching that littered them in odd places, most likely caused by knives and bullets and such, they went through a lot.

"Okay whose bright idea was it to have short shorts?" Hunk looked at one of the Robin outfits on display, on that was closer to Batman's.

"Who do you think?" Jason jerked his chin over to Dick.

"Aw come on Jay you liked them too!" Dick smiled, ruffling Jason's hair as he passed by to get to Keith.

Jason huffed and shook his head. "Like I said, my personal Batcave is much cooler. Especially now that it includes none other than the Iceberg Lounge."

"I thought Penguin owned that place?" Lance asked from his new spot at the armory.

"It's mine now." Jason smirk became a little more malicious.

Hunk took another look around. It was clear who spent a lot of time down here and who was here for the first time. The Bats navigated the cave without any question, tossing things back and forth with full confidence that at least one other person would be there to catch it. Lance, Pidge, and even Hunk were still staring in awe, always finding something new no matter how many times they looked.

"Shirogane, there's an infestation in the cave." A young voice, younger than Pidge, said from the top of the stairs.

There, Hunk saw Damian Wayne and a butler coming down.

"They're friends," Shiro sighed a bit, watching as Damian continued walking.

Damian stopped right in front of Keith and Hunk can see that the little guy was tense as hell. He suddenly dove into Keith's chest and hugged tightly, and Keith, after pausing in what seemed to be shock, returned the hug.

"What a relief it is to have you back Young Master Keith," the butler, an old man named Alfred if Hunk was remembering Ryou's stories correctly, shot a smile at Keith.

"Good to see you too Alfie," Keith smiled back. "Sorry if I gave you any more gray hairs."

"Please," Jason scoffed, sneaking a glance at Hunk. "Alfred's eternal."

"Not with the way you children run around and cause chaos." Alfred, still smiling, raised an eyebrow and set down a covered serving dish, revealing lots of little sandwiches.

Again, Hunk had to take a moment to notice the differences between the Bats and non-Bats.

The Bats nearest to Alfred all automatically took one little sandwich for themselves and Hunk could see the distinct but subtle wrinkles in some of their faces as they bit into it and noticed a flavor they didn't exactly like. Meanwhile, Lance, Pidge, and Hunk were surprised by the taste of fresh cucumbers.

"Thanks Alfred," Steph-Hunk finally remembered-smiled.

Shiro's face seemed to be in a barely concealed turmoil. Hunk recognized the look of something not sitting right with his tastebuds, usually a product of Coran's weirder recipes, but there was a genuine twitching smile, almost as though he was glad to be tasting something familiar and not some cheap imitation.

"Thanks Alfred," Shiro covered his mouth as talked, taking another bite at the same time.

The plate was almost cleared up and Hunk was the last to get a sandwich, and he wondered if it would be a good idea to leave Lance and Pidge down there by themselves but decided that if he wanted to talk to Alfred, it'd be best to get it done soon.

"Hey, um, Alfred?" Hunk, after politely asking of course, followed Alfred back to the kitchen, where Alfred was cleaning up. "Can I ask you something?"

"Almost anything," Alfred had a sly little smirk. "I heard from Young Master Takashi that you're quite the talented chef, but you won't get my secret recipes so easily."

Hunk couldn't help but smile at that. "Actually," he looked around at the clean and almost sterile kitchen, seeing exactly one personal detail and it was a messily duct taped 'World's Best Dad' mug sitting on the counter. "I wanted to talk to you about Ta-er, Shiro. And Ryou. Well, mostly Ryou, but now that I've also spent a long time with Shiro I wanted to talk about him too and-" he took a deep breath. "Be honest with me, Alfred. Are the twins really the most quote-unquote normal Bats of the bunch?" Hunk used air quotes.

"Well," Alfred seemed to be gathering his thoughts. "From a certain perspective, they're the oddest of the bunch. The twins are one of the few who decided that dressing up in capes and spandex every night to beat up criminals is a bit silly."

"That includes you, right?" Hunk honestly couldn't imagine Alfred in anything remotely resembling the Batman costume.

"Young Master Hunk," Alfred was now preparing a few cups of tea. "You should know that Takashi and Ryou have idolized Bruce ever since they were children, younger than Damian was when he first came to the manor."

Hunk nodded.

"They had just lost their parents, and barely managed to stay together if not for Master Bruce's intervention. I couldn't begin to imagination what would have happen to those two if they had been torn away from each other."

No Voltron, probably, Hunk thought. If Shiro and Ryou weren't raised together by Bruce, then they wouldn't be... well, themselves. Probably still an ace pilot and genius mechanic but not at the same level Hunk knew them to be.

"Though it would be more accurate to say that they idolize Richard much more," Alfred smiled as he carefully poured the tea. "Thick as thieves those three are, from the very first night they met to even now, despite none of us knowing where Ryou has gone off to."

Hunk thought about what Alfred said. How the twins were orphans, and at that point in their life, there was a real possibility they would have been put in different foster homes, probably never seeing the only family they had left.

Family. That word stuck more than any other.

"And Bruce..." Hunk said, breaking the silence that grown as they were walking back down to the Batcave, with both tea and some more cucumber sandwiches in tow. "He-" he would have to choose his words pretty carefully. "He had it pretty rough back then too huh?"

"With all three of the Musketeers running around?" Alfred raised an eyebrow. "Or are you talking of his formative years?"

"I mean," Hunk rubbed the back of his head. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost my family like-" he paused.

He could lose his family in such a quick and brutal way.

If the Galra reached Earth...

If the Paladins AND the Justice League failed to protect Earth...

"While I cannot say that Master Bruce's coping mechanisms have been completely helpful, I can say that every day I see his achievements and progress." Alfred, perfectly balancing the dozen or so full tea cups on the tray in one hand, put a hand on Hunk's shoulder.

"Really?" Hunk asked.

"Of course." Alfred readjusted his grip on the tea tray. "Their names are Richard, Takashi, Ryou, Jason, Timothy-the list goes on well into being Gotham's unofficial census."

Hunk must have looked confused, as Alfred smiled.

"By providing children such as Richard and the others with a relatively safe household, Master Bruce has ensured that they don't become angry at the world and spiral into despair." Alfred began walking as he explained. "As well as all the charities. Those aren't just for show. Master Bruce truly would provide for every man, woman, and child in Gotham if he could. And if that means battling everything from psychopathic clowns to evil aliens, then so be it."

Hunk nodded again, and he could see that in Ryou and Sh-... in Takashi as well. Especially as he saw the older twin stopping an argument between Lance and Keith.

"So did Bruce adopt Keith too or...?" Hunk's voice trailed off.

"Trust me, he was thinking about it." Alfred sighed.


	3. The Couch Will Do

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is set in what I lovingly call the Cloneverse. Shiro's clones-bros are running around willy nilly, some more helpful than others. ONCE AGAIN FROM MY SUBMISSIONS ON HEADSPACEDAD'S PAGE(if you want to get introduced to these good bois): headspacedad.tumblr.com/post/187860155472/new-faces
> 
> I should really submit my Shirotember on here. Anyways, enjoy and give Hunk some hugs, he needs them.

The universe was safe, but that didn't mean the Paladins' job as Defenders were over.

For one, there were still the lingering question of how many of Shiro's clones-or little brothers, as Ryou calls them-are still alive and where in the ever expanding universe were they hiding.

Then there was Allura's coronation, which Coran and Romelle were spearheading, trying to mix the Altean traditions of old with that of the new.

And third, but absolutely not least, was what to do now.

Keith was with the Blades, gathering intel on where the rest of the bad apples of the Galra are holing up and taking care of them, one way or another. Whether Lotor would agree to leading them was still undetermined, but it seemed Keith was trying to encourage him, if not for Lotor waffling on about some guy named Hazar who'd do better as a leader.

Shiro was dealing with his new greatest enemy, paperwork, on top of dealing with all of the clones-sorry, little brothers-that had joined the family. Ryou said he'd be helping, but Hunk was sure that this would only lead to more lighthearted but still quite painful headaches.

Lance was helping alleviate the paperwork, and at that Hunk knew that Shiro was in good hands because no matter how many people thought he was an airhead of sorts, Lance's focus was actually something scary.

Pidge and her family were making rapid progress when it came to the tech side of things, with the occasional help from Ryou of course. Every day, Pidge had something new to talk about, and every day she'd be dragged back to work by one of the other Holts, sometimes all at once.

And Hunk, well. Hunk had nothing really to complain about.

He was doing both of the things he loved, cooking and engineering, for the literal betterment of the whole universe.

Almost everyone loved his cooking.

His apprentices all respected him.

The fact he was even teaching cooking to aliens was an incredible feat in itself.

So why didn't he feel happy?

"Ugh," Hunk sighed and sat down in the spare couch in Shiro's office. So far, it was one of the only quiet places in the Garrison. "My hands are killing me."

"I can fix that." A voice said right next to his ear.

"AH!" Hunk screeched and jumped, seeing the bright yellow eyes of Jack, one of the many clone-bros. "Oh. It's only you."

"Are you disappointed?" Jack crawled onto the couch.

"Not really." Hunk sighed again, rubbing his hands together.

A small silence fell between them.

Hunk could feel Jack's eyes on him. It was an incredibly eerie feeling, knowing that Jack could literally see into another person's soul-or rather, their quintessence. How that worked out from him getting shot with magic in the face instead of just going blind or dying was still something he could only attribute to dumb luck.

"You look stressed out." Jack finally said.

"Nah, I'm fine." Hunk lied. "I'm living an even better version of the dream, am I right?" Hunk tried to laugh, seeing that Jack was not in any way, shape, or form convinced.

Jack clicked his tongue and crossed his arms. "Whatever helps you sleep at night."

Hunk rolled his eyes and when he looked back, Jack was gone. "God that's creepy." He found himself laying down on the couch, looking up at the ceiling and listening to the clock tick tick ticking away.

Yep. Hunk thought. He was totally fine. Why wouldn't he?

Tick tick ticking.

Tick tock tick tock tick tock.

"I mean I know when I'm stressed out," Hunk kept talking to the air. "I know when I need to take some time to relax. Like right now. I'm relaxing. I am completely relaxed."

Tick tock tick tock tick tock.

"I." Hunk said again, eyes closed. "Am relaxed."

"Pardon my French but that's horse shit." Another Shiro-like voice appeared, this time it was coming from the door.

"Hey Doc," Hunk tried not to sigh and looked at Doc with a smile. "What brings you here?"

"Well since I'm apparently more inclined to medical duties, I've been told a patient needed help here." Doc looked around. "I thought for sure Jack stapled his hand to the desk again."

"I said I'm fine." Hunk did sigh this time. "I'm fine."

"Denial." Doc noted as he took a seat on the other chair across from the couch. "What's wrong Hunk?"

There was just something gentle and comforting in Doc's face, a certain warmth that he recognized in Shiro and Ryou, and it was enough for Hunk to let it all out.

"I don't feel happy." Hunk finally said. "I know I'm supposed to be the happy cheery sunshine child for the team but I-" he looked at his hands. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I just feel... tired. Like, all the time."

"I see," Doc had grabbed a notepad off Shiro's desk and appeared to be writing stuff down. "And when did you first notice this feeling?"

"I don't know a couple weeks ago?" Hunk shrugged. "A month maybe? When I wake up at home, it's not as bad but by the time the day's over, I just-" he sighed. "Don't feel like I did enough, you know?"

"Mm-hm," Doc was still messing with the pen. "And have you noticed any increase in how much you've been baking?"

Hunk was about to answer no when he realized that he had in fact been making more sweets and pastries and such for a while now.

He let out a loud and long sigh. "I have been stress baking haven't I?"

"It would seem that way," Doc looked up at Hunk with a smile. "Can you think of anything that happened that may have caused this change?"

Hunk shot a look at Doc. "Uh, we saved the universe?"

Doc clicked his tongue. "Right." He looked at his notepad.

"So Doc, what do you think?" Hunk asked, still laying down on the couch.

"Hmm," Doc spun the pen around. "I'm no psychologist, but I think I know what may be the problem."

"And that is?" Hunk gestured for Doc to continue talking.

"A lot of soldiers who came home from war find that they have trouble readjusting to the relatively peaceful routine of civilian life." Doc tapped his pen on the notepad. "I believe this may be what you're experiencing."

That clicked in Hunk's mind. Now that he thought about it, he did find himself flinching every now and then whenever an unfamiliar Galra crossed his path. When he woke up, it took him a second to remember he was at home and not in the Castle or some alien planet. Every day, there was a voice in the back of his mind telling him he had to rush in case an alarm would go off and he'd have to suit up.

"So PTSD?" Hunk asked.

Doc didn't respond immediately but he shifted in his seat. "I don't have any degrees but that would be the most logical conclusion."

Hunk sighed. "So what? Meditation? Some prescription?"

"My name may be Doc but I don't have that kind of authority," Doc wrote something else down on his notepad.

"Gimme that." Hunk swiped it from Doc's hand, seeing it was actually a drawing of Odin's birds Hugs and Muns. "Really?"

Doc shrugged. "But do you feel a bit better?"

Hunk sighed and gave him back the notepad. "Kinda? Not sure. I just don't know what to do."

"Well," Doc put the notepad down. "I think taking some time off might help. Spend more time with your family, leave work at work, do something new."

Hunk gave Doc a look. "Are you sure you're not a licensed doctor?"

"I'm working on it," Doc smiled. "You might need to actually schedule an appointment with a real doctor."

"Oh my god I have to do that by myself now don't I?" Hunk asked with a slight terror in his voice, unsure how his parents would feel about making that loaded phone call.

"Unfortunately," Doc sighed. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go find Jack before he does something stupid."

"You're probably too late on that." Hunk sat up and stretched. The couch wasn't exactly his best idea, it was a bit too firm for his liking.

"I know and it terrifies me." Doc stood and made his way out the room, he paused at the door and looked at Hunk. "And Hunk?"

"Yeah?" Hunk looked back at him.

"We do love your cheery optimism, but you're human. Your feelings, even the crappy ones, are real and valid." Doc smiled and left.

Letting all of those words sink in, Hunk grabbed a pillow and laid back down.

A few minutes later, this is what Shiro saw as he returned to his office.

"Hunk?" Shiro asked. "You okay?"

"Not really." Hunk answered.

"Oh." Shiro clicked his tongue, just like Doc. "Well, stay as long as you need to. I wasn't sure how to tell you this but you do look like you need a rest."

"Thanks." Hunk shot a small, tired smile at Shiro.


	4. This Means War

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hunk and Lance just goofing off and things go a little too far. Enjoy!

"Seriously, you must be some sort of wizard because this is good as hell," Lance said with his mouth filled with food.

"Lance, please, you're a civilized human being, shut your mouth when you eat." Hunk shot a small glare at Lance, who shrugged and continued eating the latest alien meal they were able to make with the weird ingredients in the Castle's kitchen.

Today, Hunk was able to make some sort of porchetta. It was just the right amount of thick without being too much of a chore to chew, and the seasonings Hunk managed to find weren't too overwhelming or deadly for human consumption, which was a win even if the recipe had failed.

"My compliments to the chef," Lance smiled and shot a finger gun at Hunk with his free hand.

Hunk rolled his eyes but smiled back. Lance had always been able to cheer him up no matter what kind of mood he was in. It was especially helpful when class with Professor-no, class with Ryou, he had to remind himself the guy wasn't his teacher anymore-had gotten a bit too chaotic for his liking.

"Where'd you get the meat?" Lance asked as he took another bite.

"Ryou-" god, it was still weird for Hunk to say that name without any title in front of it-"got it from his pirate buddies. Said it was some type of giant space chicken."

Lance hummed and his smile grew bigger. "And the seasonings?"

"Salt, pepper, some citrus zest, garlic," Hunk continued explaining. "Some herbs."

"Good herbs?" Lance was cutting another thick slice of the space porchetta for seconds.

"Good herbs," Hunk nodded. "One new one. I saw Ryou use it, it's fine."

"And it's Ryou. He's like some weird mutant raccoon in a human body." Lance narrowed his eyes now at the meat but shrugged and continued eating.

"Yeah, but he fed it to Shiro, and Shiro didn't die." Hunk shrugged.

"Oh like that makes it so much better," Lance said sarcastically. "Man I wish I had some hot sauce to go with this."

"Good luck finding any peppers in space," Hunk took a small slice of space porchetta for himself, indeed thinking that maybe a little dab of hot sauce would fit. Then again he always thought the taste of it was something you had to grow accustom to, but if it made Lance happy, then it'd be worth the pain.

"Oh, maybe ask Ryou's pirate buddies if they can find anything like it," Lance suggested.

"I'll pass it along," Hunk smiled.

Hell would freeze over before Hunk walked into that proverbial lion's den again. No amount of reassurance from Ryou would even convince him. In fact, Ryou would most likely discourage it as Hunk was a Paladin of Voltron and thus an incredible bargaining chip should, hypothetically, he be separated from the team.

The door opened and there was Keith, a bit winded from training and surprised to see other people in the kitchen.

"I smelled food." Keith looked at the porchetta but tried to make it less obvious.

"Dig in Mullet," Lance gestured and handed Keith an extra plate.

With some reservation, Keith took a seat, grabbed the plate, and carved out a piece so big Hunk offhandedly thought it might be too much for him.

"Save some for the rest of us," Lance finished his seconds and got up. "And take a shower, please, you smell like a pig."

Keith growled but kept eating.

From what Hunk was seeing, Keith had been going at it extra hard today. That amount of feral biting was only something a person running on fumes could muster.

"No Keith, seriously," Hunk added as he finished off his plate. "Please save some of it, I wanna show it to Allura and see if I could use it the next time we have to do a fancy political dinner."

"Got it," Keith nodded and took a big bite.

"Why not show it to Ryou?" Lance called from the sink, where he was washing his plate. "Show him what real food looks like!"

"Don't let him hear you say that, he takes it as a challenge." Keith swallowed that big chunk and wiped his mouth with his hand.

"Hunk, please put in a good word with your Shiro." Lance clapped a hand on Hunk's shoulder. "I am your very best friend after all."

Keith raised an eyebrow but shrugged, continuing to eat.

"Okay one, not my Shiro. Stop calling him that, it's weird." Hunk got up. "Two, I can't control him, you're on your own."

"Oh come on!" Lance suddenly yelled, making Hunk almost drop his plate. "You're his favorite! No offense Keith."

"None taken?" Keith shrugged.

"Just bat your eyes at him! Do some puppy dog eyes, get him food wasted or something!" Lance continued to yell.

"Won't work." Keith raised an eyebrow. "They have a high alcohol tolerance."

"NO!" Lance shrieked. "Not like drunk wasted," Lance waved his hands in a desperate X like motion. "Like he just ate a whole Thanksgiving turkey wasted."

"Oh." Keith nodded. "Won't work."

"Ugh." Lance groaned. "Hunk, come on. We've been friends for a long time, please tell me you can keep the walking disaster that is Ryou's cooking far away from me."

"I can try but I can't make any promises Lance," Hunk put his hands up in defeat. "That is almost two hundred pounds of muscle and wit, once that target is on you, you're done for."

Lance banged his head on the table.

"Listen," Hunk clapped his hands. "I can convince him to not turn his unholy food on you if you can handle on dumpster diving session with him."

"Qué?" Lance slipped into Spanish. "Dumpster diving?"

"Right of passage," Keith explained. "Any good pickings and he'll have one iota of respect for you."

"Puta m-" Lance groaned again. "And you're sure this is the best way to keep him off my back with any of that weird crap he makes?"

No, Hunk thought. "Yes." He said.

"I managed to find a whole laptop once," Keith said as he too another big bite. "Best find ever."

"Fine, fine." Lance sighed. "I'll go fishing for trash."

The next day, after getting a starry eyed approval from Allura on the space porchetta, Hunk couldn't find Lance and Ryou anywhere.

"Oh, right. Spa Day." Hunk shrugged and decided to grab a few things from Ryou's work room while he had the chance.

A few hours later, while he was messing around with Ryou's sentient music boxes, in came a satisfied looking Ryou followed by a disheveled and pissed off Lance.

"HUNK!" Lance immediately cried. "You said you had my back!"

"I said no such thing," Hunk acted offended. "But as your best friend you know I do."

"I had to dive into a pool of gunk and oil!" Lance shook off, barely getting any of the said gunk and oil off. "I can feel my skin breaking out!"

Hunk mentally sighed. "Okay okay, I'll whip up something to keep you looking pretty."

"I appreciate it!" Lance continued, wiping off some of the gunk. "But let it be known that this is a declaration of war between us!"

"Bring it on." Hunk cheerfully replied. "I been meaning to test out something and what better than a prank war?"

"Be prepared!" Lance strolled off. "I'm taking a long hot shower and then a long relaxing bath!"

"Don't stay in too long or you'll be a raisin!" Hunk called as Lance went on his way.

Lance flipped the bird as he went out of sight, making Hunk roll his eyes.

"Ah, so that's why he asked to join me in my dumpster haul." Ryou had yet to wipe or shake off any gunk. "A bet?"

"Nah," Hunk shook his head. "It all started when he called you a mutant raccoon."

"Interesting." Ryou nodded.

Hunk was about to continue when he felt a big goopy glob of something hit him in the back of the head. He turned just in time to see Lance scurrying back around the corner. "Excuse me." He stood calmly and began sprinting to follow. "You're in for it now!"

"Do your worst!" Lance shouted back.

"I'll tell Coran you like that snail food he made last month!" Hunk replied as he shook off the gunk.

"OH HELL NO!"

Hunk eventually managed to get that gunk off, and did pass along the message to Ryou about getting more giant space chicken when he can, but the prank war still went on for a few weeks.

Until one prank misfired on Ryou.

After that, all hell broke loose and a truce was called.

"Okay, we make him think we're doing a food roulette and then hit him with a pie to the face." Lance was going over thier attack strategy.

"I'll tell Pidge to keep Shiro and Keith distracted." Hunk nodded.

"Sounds good." Lance held out his hand for a shake.

Grabbing by the wrist, the two went on to try and outprank Ryou.


	5. Fixer Upper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look I could not NOT write Ryou and Hunk dong their mechanic thing. Could I have done it without Batganes? Probably. But enjoy their shenanigans!

"Is it normal to be nervous?" Hunk gasped at he looked over the assortment of batarangs and one motorcycle sitting before them. "I mean, I've been in the Cave before but to actually be working with all of Batman's stuff is like a dream come true!"

"Oh Hunkules," Ryou smirked as he was picking some parts from an alien scrap pile. "You have not lived until you tune up the Batmobile and hear that baby purr."

"I always tried to but Damian would just smack my hand and glare at me." Hunk whined.

"Only smacking your hand?" Ryou huffed. "He almost took my whole arm when he saw me poking around the engine once."

"Does that mean he likes me or something?" Hunk asked as he prepared the tools.

"He tolerates your presence." Ryou explained. "He's like a cat."

"Ah," Hunk nodded. "A little asshole." He flinched a bit at Ryou's split-second glare but shrugged an apology.

"Speaking of the little demon," Ryou put on some well worn gloves and cracked his knuckles. "We have until four o'clock before he comes back from school, and another two hours before Dick and Tim come back from Titan training."

"And since Jason's hosting a charity event at Iceberg Lounge with Bruce, we have until roughly eight thirty before the biggest car guys can stop us." Hunk added.

"Which means we better get started." Ryou held up a lightly gripped fist towards Hunk, the other hand holding up his goggles.

"Let's do this." Hunk bumped his fist on Ryou's as he put on his goggles.

The two began with the batarangs, taking them apart and carefully setting down each piece. Some batarangs were more simple in design, while others, such as the Stun models and the ones that produce an ear piercing screeching sound, had more wires and components to keep track of.

"Has Batman ever considering putting all of the mods together?" Hunk asked as he carefully pulled the battery from the circuits. "Like, why so many specialized batarangs and not a Swiss Army knife type?"

"I mean theoretically we could but then it'd be easier to disarm." Ryou explained, eyes squinting in concentration. "One EMP and Batman only has regular old batarangs with extra weight, which can affect how he throws them and how they land."

"Right right," Hunk nodded. "And correct me if I'm wrong but did I see red and green batarangs in Dick's drawer one time or was I seeing things?"

"Those are his old birdarangs." Ryou set down some circuits. "Damian uses them but he hates the name."

"I can see why." Hunk muttered.

After a few attempts at fitting the batarangs little laser crystals, and almost burning off their eyebrows in the process, the two moved on to the motorcycle.

"So is this really Jason's bike or does he just call dibs on it all the time?" Hunk was a bit weary, considering how short of temper the second Robin turned somewhat murderous criminal with vigilante tendencies could be.

Ryou shrugged and began taking apart the motorcycle.

With only that as an answer, if it could even be called that, Hunk shrugged, put his goggles back on, and joined in.

When the motorcycle was reduced to parts and bolts and screws and what not, Alfred had came in to check on them.

"Young Master Ryou do we need to bar you from the Batcave again?" Alfred raised an eyebrow upon seeing Ryou covered in oil and grease.

"I'm just getting started Alfie!" Ryou smiled and-uselessly-dusted off his gloves. "Now where's the particle barrier generator?"

Alfred sighed and shook his head, but Hunk could see the proud smile on the old man's face.

"Try not to blow this one up." Alfred warned as he went back up the stairs.

"Wait what?" Hunk's eyebrows shot right up to his hairline.

"I'll be careful!" Ryou called as he looked over the alien machinery. "Now where is that damn generator?"

"Wait what does he mean?" Hunk looked over to Ryou. Well, Ryou's posterior but Hunk was kind of familiar with that sight. "Ryou."

"Yeah?" Ryou shifted from one leg to the other.

"What does he mean by exploding?" Hunk asked again.

"Ah you know," another leg shift. "Just like in class! Except this time we can use whatever we want and not be in trouble with Sanda!"

"Oohh," Hunk whined a just a little bit. "Fun."

"AHA!" Ryou held up a chunky piece of Altean tech high above his head. "Found it!"

The motorcycle was half assembled, with some new parts, and Damian could only blink at the sight of the mess, not even bothering to ask any questions.

Except one.

"Is that Todd's motorcycle?" Damian raised an eyebrow.

"Nah it's one of the spares from the garage." Ryou answered as he tested some of the new wiring.

"And again I am surprised by how you Waynes spend your money." Hunk looked at them.

"Correction," Damian held up a finger. "By how father spends his money. We only get five bucks a week as an allowance."

"FIVE-!?" Hunk sputtered. "Only five bucks!?"

"And that's only if we do chores around the house." Ryou added, his face a little too close to exposed wires.

"Huh." Hunk shrugged. "Well ain't that a kick in the pants."

"Speaking of, Todd was storing his motorcycle in the garage after Drake scratched it." Damian was now at the Batcomputer.

Hunk noticed that Ryou stopped dead in his tracks and he raised his head.

"Scratched where?" Ryou asked.

"Left hand side." Damian answered. "It seems Drake was a bit careless when he was moving some things around."

Ryou scrambled to the pile of metal where parts of the shiny black as night body were sitting. He grabbed one part and inspected it.

He facepalmed, hiding his eyes and looked at it again.

"That doesn't sound good." Hunk said.

"Hunk," Ryou pulled him close. "Since it's already a given that Jason will kill me, I need you to make sure that Romelle doesn't kill him in return."

"What." Hunk could feel himself questioning everything he knew.

"I know Jason can take care of himself but I don't know how he's gonna fare against someone as strong as Superman without a weakness like kryptonite." Ryou continued.

"Again, what." Hunk looked to Damian.

"Just bat your eyelashes at him Shirogane," Damian rolled his eyes. "He'll forgive you."

"Maybe I'll put a bow on it and say it's a belated congratulations gift for getting ownership of the Lounge." Ryou held his chin in thought.

Hunk sighed and continued putting the motorcycle back together.

With their Motorcycle Fun Time officially cut short, and they still had about three and a half hours before Jason and Bruce got back but little idea of where that time could be spent on.

Though Hunk had been eyeing the Batmobile for a while now.

It was sleek yet had the right amount of bulk to it. He could see thrusters on the back end, and had noticed some incredibly well hidden seam lines where something could be shot out the sides and front of the vehicle.

He had also seen Batman working on it every now and then, and heard him mutter a few times about what Ryou was thinking when he installed this or that.

And whenever he did, Hunk could see a small pain in his eyes.

"Hey Ryou?" Hunk asked, seeing Ryou lightly tapping his forehead on the counter next to Damian, no doubt annoying the smallest Bat.

"What?" Ryou lifted his head, a small redness on his forehead.

"We do have one more particle barrier generator." Hunk said, not so subtly titling his head and flicking his eyes towards to the Batmobile.

Ryou's eyes widened ever so slightly and a smile filled his face.

"Hey Damian." Ryou nudged him. "You want in?"

Damian sighed and turned towards Hunk, raising his eyebrow in a somewhat snobbish manner but eased up at Ryou's ever shining smile.

"Only if you let me take it for a joy ride." Damian stated.

"Deal!" Hunk and Ryou agreed without question.

As they were fitting the generator to the Batmobile, Ryou was rambling and Hunk was only half listening as he saw Dick and Tim come downstairs.

"-and I was thinking of having it absorb the kinetic energy from bullets and rockets and whatever else he runs into-hi Dick, hi Tim-and stockpile it." Ryou was still going.

Hunk looked up just in time to see Dick and Tim smiling at the sight and couldn't help but smile as well.


	6. Never A Dull Moment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should probably mention that I don't know how to write deaf/hard of hearing characters and I apologize if I got anything wrong. Anyways, here's day six of Hunkuary!

Class wasn't entirely awful, even with a crazy person teaching it. He was relearning the basics in a completely different and somewhat if equally somewhat dangerous method, but he felt he was learning something new as well.

Then again, learning how to properly use a fire extinguisher in about ten seconds probably wasn't what he should be learning in engineering class.

At least lunch was still his personal time.

"Hey Hunk!" Lance sat next to him with a cheery smile and even cheerier voice. "So, how's it going?"

"Oh you know," Hunk shrugged and took a bite of his sandwich. "Same old insane teacher, same old insane antics."

"Aw come on, at least you have the fun teacher!" Lance whined. "I wanna learn how to do barrel rolls and stuff not all these buttons!" He huffed and took the other sandwich from Hunk's lunch box.

"Easier to build from the bottom up," Hunk sighed.

"What?" Lance raised an eyebrow.

"Something Professor Shirogane told us." Hunk felt a small smile on his face.

"Wait as Takashi Shirogane?" Lance's eyes widened and had stars in them.

"No," Hunk corrected. "His brother."

"Oh." Lance immediately became disappointed but smiled a second later. "Well I guess we both have a hero named Shiro!"

Hunk snorted at that, trying not to cough as he felt some food bouncing back up with his snort. He pounded his chest a bit, trying to get it back down while trying not to laugh.

"Dude," Hunk managed to choke out. "Don't make me laugh while I eat!"

"It's true though!" Lance beamed while eating. "I mean, if Takashi Shirogane is an awesome pilot, then his brother should be equally as awesome and cool, right?"

"Well yeah," Hunk found himself agreeing. "Just wish he wasn't so...."

"So what?" Lance tilted his head.

"Eeeehhhh," Hunk groaned as he tried to think of a polite way to say complete maniac. "He's kinda weird."

"Is it the haircut?" Lance continued. "Because Shiro's is pretty cool."

"It's a reverse mullet." Hunk noted.

"No!" Lance immediately argued. "Mullets are not cool! Normal, reverse, or all fancied up, mullets are not cool!"

That raised an eyebrow for Hunk.

"Is it because of that other kid in the pilot course? What's his name?" Hunk held his chin as he tried to remember. "Kevin?"

"Let's not talk about that," Lance huffed. "So what's so weird about your Shiro?"

"Ignoring that last part," Hunk rolled his eyes. "He's just... careless? I mean he follows the safety rules. Goggles, gloves, tying back any loose hairs and clothes-which again, is weird because it's long in the front and short everywhere else-"

"Oh my god he does have a weird haircut," Lance interrupted.

"It's the same haircut your-" Hunk used air quotes, "Shiro has."

"Yeah but mine wears it better." Lance corrected with a smirk.

Again, Hunk rolled his eyes. "Anyways, Professor Shirogane just really-" he realized the word he was going to use wasn't the best. "Makes me anxious."

It was Lance's turn to cough and choke.

"Seriously?" Lance seemed a bit more concerned now.

"Like I said, he follows the rules but he pushes them to the limit too." Hunk went on, ignoring his sandwich now. "We can't use this one specific material? Then we can just get the closest substitute we can find in the junk pile-Lance!" Hunk suddenly realized another point. "This man smells like a literal dumpster fire. It's like he's trying to get himself fired!"

"So," Lance rolled his eyes as he thought. "He's still the fun teacher, right?"

Pausing, Hunk put down his sandwich, closed his eyes, clapped his hands together, and took a deep breath.

"Boy." Hunk pointed his hands to Lance and gave him a glare. "There is nothing fun about needing to have the school nurse on speed dial."

"She's hot though," Lance had THAT smirk again. The one that made Hunk unapologetically but still gently punch him in the shoulder for.

"No." Hunk returned his attention to the sandwich and too a bite. "I don't know dude. I think I might switch my engineering class to Dougal, just like my schedule said I should be in."

"If you want," Lance shrugged. "I know I'd do anything to be in the same room as Shiro though."

"Wait my Shiro or your Shiro?" Hunk asked.

"Takashi Shirogane, ace pilot, my hero?" Lance raised an eyebrow again and his smirk was a bit more teasing this time.

"Oh yeah," Hunk nodded. "My Shiro's full name is Ryou Shirogane."

"Yeah I think it'd be pretty confusing if we called both of them by their last name," Lance finished his-previously Hunk's-sandwich. He noticed something next to Hunk and poked his shoulder.

"Hm?" Hunk turned and saw Ava-the girl with hearing aids from his class. "Oh." He put down his sandwich and his head filled with vague-ish memories of sign language. "Um, how are you?" He signed as best he could.

Ava smiled a bit and wrote down something, presenting it to Hunk and Lance.

'Your Shiro?' The paper read.

Hunk felt his face heat up a bit. "I mean," he realized he was forgetting signs faster than he could remember them. "Well-" Hunk fumbled with his hands.

"Can I see that?" Lance pointed to the notepad and gestured if he could write on it. Ava handed it to him, and after a moment, Lance presented it.

A small diagram now filled the spot underneath Ava's writing. The diagram showed an arrow between the Shiroganes, Lance, and Hunk. Takashi Shirogane had an arrow from his name to Lance's with lots of quickly scribbled titles and such, while Ryou Shirogane's arrow connected to Hunk with a simple 'teacher-student' label. The Shiroganes had an arrow between them labelled siblings.

Ava nodded, understanding despite Lances obviously excited handwriting. Flipping to another page, Ava wrote again.

'Do you think Professor is a fun teacher?' Ava asked with her notepad.

Once more, Hunk felt he couldn't properly answer. He shrugged with an awkward, sheepish smile on his face, obviously upsetting Ava given her-somewhat adorable-glaring pout.

"You know how he is!" Hunk was able to remember a few words.

Ava circled the word fun on her notepad and pointed at it.

"I mean your class sounds does sound more fun. Like back in middle school when the science teacher would do an experiment and set something on fire?" Lance smiled.

Hunk sighed and groaned. "Okay fine. Professor Shirogane is the fun teacher."

Ava fist pumped in victory as the bell rang. She signed to Hunk and ran off, disappearing among the crowd.

"That's my cue." Lance grabbed another sandwich from Hunk's box. "See you later!" He too ran off and Hunk was left alone to fix up his things and head to the class he simultaneously looked forward to and dreaded.

As he stepped into class, he saw that Ava, Peter, and Dexter were talking. Taking his seat, Hunk glanced at the bandaid on Peter's hand from yesterday's mishap with a soldering wire and winced.

Sure, it's not like Professor Shirogane was the one who personally gave Peter that little injury, in fact he was pretty calm about it as he did his best to help. Again, Hunk had to admit that Professor Shirogane was a professional with the way he handled things.

Then again, their assignment, a small project to work with materials Professor Shirogane had dug out of some dumpsters around the city, was pretty much a disaster waiting to happen in Hunk's eyes.

"Hey," Charlie's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "Did you figure out the second half of the project yet?"

"Huh?" Hunk raised an eyebrow. "Oh, sorta? I'm still trying to work out the calculations, but I think I'm getting somewhere."

"Hm." Charlie nodded. "Professor Shirogane definitely doesn't pull punches."

"I'd kinda prefer if he would though," Hunk chuckled a bit, only for Charlie to glare at him sharply.

"We're here to push ourselves to our limits, within reason of course." She said with a somewhat scolding tone. "Not to cruise by on easy mode."

"Right," Hunk felt his shoulders droop. "Wait do you play video games?"

"Of course." Charlie smiled proudly. "Helps with reaction times and problem solving skills."

The bell rang and in came Professor Shirogane, running, out of breath, and his hair smoldering.

"Good afternoon class," he said calmly, nonchalantly patting out the smoking lock of hair.

At times like this, Hunk didn't know who to be more worried for; His fellow students, who were at the mercy of one human error from an explosion, or his teacher, who seemed to be tempting fate every day of his life.


	7. One Punk, Two Punks, Yellow Punk, Green Punk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just some more shenanigans, now featuring Team Punk :D

"Hunk do you mind giving me a lift?" Pidge was trying and failing to reach a high shelf, but her tippy toes could only go so far.

"Sure thing," Hunk put down his work and bent down to grab Pidge's legs and hoisted her up.

Peeking over her shoulder, Hunk could see her gathering a few miscellaneous parts. A battery here, a few bolts there.

"Thank you," Pidge said as she squirmed a bit to keep balance.

Hunk took this a signal to set her down. "No problem."

The two went back to their respective work, nothing but tapping and metallic tinks between them.

"So," Hunk looked over to her. "Whatcha working on?"

"Just practicing with Altean coding." Pidge answered, her eyes invisible behind the glare of the screen. "And you?"

"Getting familiar with the tools." Hunk was still unsure of what the can-opener-looking device was doing in a place that was not the kitchen but he vowed to find out its purpose.

A few more seconds of silence.

"What did you think of your Lion when you first saw it?" Pidge asked.

"Huh?" Hunk looked up.

"Your Lion." Pidge repeated. "What did you think of it?"

"Hmm." Hunk paused and thought. "He was big. And scary. But when I sat in the cockpit, I just felt... safe?" He shrugged. "Like, he was telling me it was going to be okay."

Pidge smiled a bit. "Sometimes I still look up at mine and think it's all a dream, you know?"

"That we're the universe's last hope?" Hunk looked to see a flash of Pidge's big, owl-like eyes and how they looked so hurt.

"Yeah." She managed to say.

He saw her wipe her eyes just as they disappeared behind her glasses again.

"It's-" Hunk continued. "Scary. That all life in the universe expecting a bunch of kids and whatever Shiro's dealing with to save them. I mean.... we still think the peak of comedy consists of dumb meme speak."

"Not very cash money of you." Pidge said with the smallest of smirks.

"See?" Hunk gestured to her. "Just last week Lance was telling Allura and Coran all about the different types of puppers, doggos-"

"Boofers." Pidge added.

"Exactly. I seriously feel for Shiro's struggles right now." Hunk sighed.

"He is the only functioning adult among us." Pidge nodded.

"Pidge." Hunk looked at her. "I saw him slip and fall face first into trash chute. He's barely holding himself together and Allura's expecting him to hold all of us dumb little shits together."

"Language." Pidge smirked.

"Shiro's not here! I can swear if I want!" Hunk protested. "Back to my point. How the heck are we going to save the whole universe? It's not exactly a place with a well defined size. It's always expanding!"

"We save the bigger places first, cut the Galra off from supplies and resources, band together any rebels to increase our numbers so the five of us aren't the only ones doing all the work, then once we get the Galra Empire down to a certain size or cut off Zarkon's head-whichever comes first-we can do more diplomatic things like long boring negotiations and whatever." Pidge said as she typed, not looking up but her eyebrows were doing quite a bit of gesturing.

A moment of silence.

"Huh." Hunk said.

"You learn a few things from watching all sorts of dumb stuff on the so called history channel when in a grief induced depression." Pidge explained. "And spiraling into caffeine fueled conspiracy theories that-for the record-turned out to be true. And mom said I wasn't handling my grief well."

"I mean..." Hunk shrugged. "My entire class made Ryou a gift basket when he resigned from the Garrison."

"Oh yeah he was a teacher wasn't he?" Pidge sounded surprised.

"Honestly one of my best teachers." Hunk smiled a bit, remembering all the shenanigans the class would get into with Ryou's guidance. In hindsight, everything he worried about seemed... small in comparison now.

"And now he's like the weird uncle who always gets cool presents but never actually says what he does for a job." Pidge looked over to an unfamiliar pile of scrap that managed to find its way into her work space.

"Okay first of all, he has space pirate friends. Second of all, I dare say he's like a best friend to me," Hunk argued calmly.

"Best fri-!?" Pidge almost yelled. "I thought I was your best friend?"

"Well-" Hunk felt embarrassment heating up his cheeks.

"Or, you know, Lance?" Pidge continued her ranting. "I am so telling him you called Ryou your best friend by the way."

"No!" Hunk shouted. "I didn't mean it like that!"

"Oh so Ryou isn't your best friend?" Pidge smirked and teased.

"N-no-well, yes? I mean-" Hunk groaned. "You just love pushing my buttons don't you?"

"Pushing buttons is what I do best." Pidge adjusted her glasses. "So who is your best friend? Is it Keith? I bet it's Keith."

"He does look like he needs a hug." Hunk held his chin. "But if you're really going to make me say it, then I'm not gonna say it."

"It's Shiro!" Pidge declared. "He has big muscles, you have big muscles, it's a bromance if I've ever seen one."

"I cannot argue that Shiro has some killer biceps but he has me beat at pecs." Hunk sighed.

"And legs." Pidge shrugged.

"And abs." Hunk added.

"Guys guys-" Lance suddenly appeared, with that overconfident smile on his face. "I know I'm gorgeous but my eyes are up here." He pointed up to his face and flashed another smile.

Hunk and Pidge both looked at him.

"We're talking about Shiro." Pidge clarified.

"Oh." Lance seemed disappointed. "Well then I can't believe you guys missed one of his best features!"

Now Hunk and Pidge raised an eyebrow at each other.

"That being?" Hunk asked.

Lance smiled and struck a pose. "His perfect smile!" He stopped as the door opened, revealing Shiro, Ryou, and Keith.

"Oh Shiro! Ryou! Hi!" Lance whipped himself back into a casual stance with a saccharine smile. "Keith."

Shiro raised an eyebrow now and shook it off. "Don't know what you guys are talking about but it's time for lunch."

"Beef and broccoli with a side of white rice," Ryou explained with a smile. "Or at least I hope it's rice."

"I helped so it won't be poison." Keith nudged Ryou with his hip.

"Can I take the laptop?" Pidge asked.

"No work at the table," Shiro had that stern but gentle tone. "We're stressed enough as it is."

"Yeah and we all know this dinosaur can't afford any more gray hairs." Ryou lightly punched Shiro's shoulder, earning a glare from him.

"Ugh, fine." Pidge groaned and closed the laptop.

"Come on Hunk, you too." Shiro said.

"Coming." Hunk looked over the tools again and figured if he leaved them exactly as they were at that moment, he'd remember his train of thought. At least he hoped so, he thought while the group was heading to the dining room.

"Yeah don't wanna miss lunch with your best friend." Pidge teased again.

"I keep telling you that's not what I meant." Hunk groaned.

"I'm not your best friend?" Lance said, a bit hurt at the misunderstood implications.

"Not you I mean-" Hunk facepalmed. "Forget it. You're my best friend, no contest."

Pidge raised up her hands. "And what am I? Chopped liver?"

"Why are you making me choose?" Hunk asked back.

"Stop torturing the coconut bun you little Slytherin vulture." Ryou shot a playful glare at Pidge.

"Says the dumb Gryffindor." Pidge said. "Oh wait, that's every Gryffindor."

"Ryou's more of a Ravenclaw but go off I guess." Keith added.

"I'd argue Slytherin," Hunk added.

The conversation spilled far past lunch, right into training, and even edging into dinner before Allura stopped them, with at least Hunk and Pidge agreeing on which fictional wizard house the two of them were in.


	8. Lion Bath Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen the prompt was "bubbles" and either I seriously forgot a lot of this show or this was a random prompt but I made it work so here you go, enjoy!
> 
> Also I was kinda inspired by Monster Hunter because my brother showed me this particular monster called a Mizutsune and it looked cool

Hunk looked up at the Yellow Lion, then to the hose in his hand, back up at the Lion, and back to the hose.

"I think I'm going to need more water." Hunk said to himself.

He knew the Castle had a decontamination room, but he also knew that Yellow couldn't fit in it. At the same time, he couldn't just let the mighty Yellow Lion of Voltron sit in filth, gunky space oil, and heavens knows what the giant alien worm spilled all over them that just wouldn't come off.

His next thought was rerouting the cleaning agents from the decontamination room to the hose, but that would barely be enough to spray down one of Yellow's feet, a claw if Hunk wanted to make sure he was thorough with all the cleaning.

"Hey Hunkules," Ryou clapped a shoulder on Hunk's shoulder. "Still trying to clean him off?"

"Yeah," Hunk sighed. "He's just so big. I was thinking of asking Lance if his Lion had some sort of giant water gun, like how the Red Lion can spew out lava."

"Makes sense." Ryou nodded. "Taka just spun around really fast a few times to get the gunk off."

"Sounds like a bigger mess." Hunk flashed a smirk.

"That's what I told him." Ryou shook his head, smiling. "Now Red and Green are extra filthy and extra pissed."

"Really?" Hunk looked up at Yellow, but didn't sense any anger from the big guy.

"Well Keith and Pidge are just being brats about having more work to do," Ryou explained, holding his chin in thought. "But the giant water gun idea does sound like it could work if we can figure out how to actually clean off all the germs and whatever instead of just rinsing it off."

"Hmmm," Hunk also held his chin. "If we could get the cleaning agents from the Castle into the Blue Lion's water gun, maybe we can just blast all the Lions clean."

"And try not to use up all of it in the process." Ryou added.

They both paused and thought, but Hunk felt an extra voice in his head.

A flash of a long and slender creature, almost snake-like if not for the large legs and fan-like fins on its tail. Speaking of horrible water beasts, Hunk couldn't help but think of the Baku he and Lance fought back with the space mermaids, especially as he saw giant sharp teeth lining the creature's maw in his vision.

The vision kept going, revealing the luminous scales of the creature that shimmered even in the lowest light. And from those scales secreted what seemed to be clusters of soap-like bubbles that dislodged every so often.

Hunk's final image was the size of the creature and again, he thought of the Baku.

"Hey," Ryou ruffled his hair a bit, jostling him out of his thoughts. "You okay there?"

"Yeah." Hunk nodded. "I think my Lion just told us where we can find a lot of soap."

Ryou seemed a teensy bit jealous that the Lions still wouldn't talk to him, but he set those emotions aside. "And where, pray tell?"

"A giant monster that lives deep in the waters and is somewhere between the Yellow Lion and the Black Lion in terms of size." Hunk explained.

Looking up at the Yellow Lion, Ryou clicked his tongue and nodded his head. "Sounds about right. So we going deep sea fishing?"

"Seems so." Hunk said.

Another vision. Waters close by.

"And we don't even have to go that far." Hunk looked up at one of the planet's moons.

With Allura and Coran's approval and guidance, the team made their way in search of this giant soapy beast. A Valorex, according to Coran.

"And you're sure this thing isn't going to kill us?" Lance asked as they headed down into the waters that covered the entire moon.

"Not exactly sure but we just need to get the bubbles from its scales." Hunk explained.

"It's a docile beast," Coran explained. "But males have been known to become quite hostile during mating season."

"Ew, ew, ew." Pidge groaned. "I do not want to see that."

"Shiro you doing okay?" Keith asked. As expected, all that spinning had taken a toll on Shiro and now he was as dizzy and uncoordinated as a newborn deer.

"Yessiree doo," Shiro sounded unsure and shaky. "Lemme pilot."

"No." Ryou's voice was stern. "You sit pretty and try to keep your head on straight."

"Ha. Haha." Shiro's voice was a bit flat and dry. "Straight." He still sounded like he genuinely found it funny.

"Well I mean its an animal that makes bubbles, how bad can it be?" Lance sounded like he was trying to convince himself things were okay.

Hunk was going to keep the image of its teeth and claws to himself, but soon he saw a familiar shape in the waters.

"Heads up." Hunk said.

"You're in its territory now," Coran's voice was low. "Stick together."

"We're covered in super glue Coran," Keith huffed. "We kinda have no choice."

"Isn't this the same creature we used to breed back on Altea?" Allura asked. "I don't believe such small creatures are to be feared."

"Those are domesticated Valorex Princess," Coran replied, the Paladins, and Ryou, still hearing them. "These are wild and aren't exactly-"

"DIOS MIO!" Lance cried as he was suddenly met with jaws as big as the Lion's head coming right for him. "It's the Baku all over again!"

The Red Lion slammed into the Valorex, sticking to its side and causing it to wiggle and squirm and redirect its attention to the new threat.

"Is that bubble algae under its scales?" Keith asked and Hunk couldn't help but picture him squinting as he tried to get a clear image of the creature while it was thrashing. "Uh oh."

The others can see the Valorex's squirming was paying off and the Red Lion was now getting a coating of white frothy bubbles all over it.

"Moving out!" Keith pulled back, evident by the Red Lion jerking back from the Valorex just in time to dodge a mighty bite from it. "And you said you domesticated these things Coran?"

"Where do you think the cleaning agents came from?" Coran replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the universe.

"My turn!" Pidge turned invisible and the Paladins got a nice view of the Valorex trying and failing to swat and bite at something it can't see. Once the Green Lion was thoroughly outlined in wild soap, she turned off the cloaking. "I genuinely feel cleaner now."

"You guys do know my Lion has a giant water gun right?" Lance asked as he began doing a serpentine maneuver to avoid the jaws of death. "We could have just had a giant water gun fight but no! We had to find a giant water dragon!"

"Here snakey snakey," Shiro's voice cooed as the Black Lion rubbed up against the Valorex's side.

"Danger soapy noodle," Ryou chimed in, and Hunk could hear the teeniest bit of enthusiasm in his voice.

"Party's coming to you Hunk!" Lance passed by the Yellow Lion but cut it too close and the two were glued together at an odd angle.

"Ruh roh," Hunk had braced himself for impact but felt his stomach drop when the Valorex's jaw opened again, aiming at him.

Another Valorex rammed into the first one, larger in size and with a giant scar cutting from its head-fin, down its eye, and ending at the chin.

"Bigger noodle...!" Shiro shouted.

The bigger Valorex's tail swished and swatted at Hunk and Lance, physically slapping them apart and covering them in a pinker froth of bubbles.

"I think that's our cue to leave." Lance suggested.

"Good idea." Keith agreed.

The Paladins left the Valorex to fight each other, and as the water rushed against the Lions, the gunk and soap washed off, their path trailed by the white and pink bubbles that were occasionally soiled by the filth that covered the Lions moments ago.

When the Lions burst out of the water, they sparkled with a squeaky cleanliness that could only be rivaled by the gleaming white of the Castle and after going through decontamination themselves and getting Shiro much needed bed rest, Hunk was finally able to sit in a nice warm bath and let all the tension go.

He let out a long and heavy sigh.

"Go team." He whined to himself. "Man I'm so tired."

Closing his eyes, Hunk leaned back and felt himself slipping further into the gentle and soothing warm soapy bath water. Now that he could actually touch the substance, Hunk could smell a saltiness to it, mixed with a fresh flowery type of aroma.

Makes sense, he thought, now realizing that the Valorex's territory had lots of underwater flora.

And the salt made him think of the beach, spiraling into thoughts of home and how he was so excited to see the beach again when classes were over.

"I wish I had a rubber ducky." Hunk whined again, feeling lonely and wondering if any of the mice were nearby to talk to.


	9. The Element of Endurance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes that is an Avatar: The Last Airbender reference. It's just a super good show okay? Also, feels in this one

The sound of the door sliding open made Hunk aware of his surroundings once more. The hot tea in the cup had become slightly warmer than room temperature, and the cookies he had just finished baking, long cooled down, were nearing staleness.

"Hey Hunkules," Ryou yawned, eyes tired.

"Hey Professor." Hunk said without thinking.

"Oof," Ryou grabbed a large mug-or was it a small pot?-and began making himself some coffee, the smell of the powder stinging Hunk's nose. "Haven't called me that in a while. Something up?"

"What?" Hunk looked up at him and remembered where he was. "Ah shi-shoot." He slapped his hand on his forehead. "Sorry. Brain fart. Just-"

"Tired?" Ryou interrupted gently, tilting his head in that funny little way he always does whenever he sized someone up, as if he could get more visual cues if he just moved his head one way or the other.

Hunk sighed. "I miss home."

Ryou tilted his head the other way. "I hear ya." He sighed and clicked his tongue.

"Yeah but you got yours back." Hunk could feel something fiery going through his blood. "I don't know what's worse, having to see you and Shiro be all happy and laughing or thinking about my family going nuts over me just vanishing into thin air."

It was Ryou's turn to sigh. He rubbed the back of his neck and muttered too low for Hunk to hear any words.

"Well, you're obviously pissed." Ryou cracked his neck with a loud pop. "And no amount of empty and vague reassurances is going to change that."

Hunk tightened his grip on the tea cup, feeling his face twitching with anger.

"Get some sleep." Ryou grabbed his cup-pot and was about to leave.

"Says you." Hunk hissed.

Ryou paused at that but made no move to retort.

"Good night Hunk." Ryou tilted his head ever so slightly and left.

As the door closed again, Hunk could still taste his words on his tongue.

Did he really just say that?

That he'd rather see the twins be miserable than see them happy and together and not thrown to the space wolves?

The tea tasted bitter now, and Hunk munched on a cookie, indeed finding it had become a bit stale from sitting out so long.

Do not crumble.

A voice, the Yellow Lion, said to him.

"Didn't you hear what I said?" Hunk said to the vague presence around him. "I-"

Emotions can cloud judgement.

Hunk sighed again. "Should I go apologize?"

In time.

"Right." Hunk nodded and tried to at least finish his tea, feeling the warmth of it spread with each sip. He finished one cookie and was about to pick up another when he thought of what he said again. "Do..." he said quietly. "Do you ever miss your home planet?"

A moment of silence passed, but Hunk can feel a heavy weight on his shoulders.

Always.

"How do you get by like that?" Hunk continued. "Knowing you can't go back?"

The memories are a foundation.

Hunk began receiving visions again.

The planet he was seeing didn't look like Altea, but it was still familiar in a way. He felt as though he had been there before, and knew every inch of it, from the tallest mountain to the smallest pebble and grain of sand.

Though wind and waters may carve through stone, the earth will remain.

Now Hunk was seeing Earth.

And so long as the earth stands firm, so too will the life it nurtures.

Rivers and oceans.

Forest and valleys.

Embers and mighty volcanoes.

Mountains so tall they touched the clouds and went beyond.

The earth can soften and crack, crumble to dust, but remains earth all the same.

Hunk opened his eyes, feeling the now cold tea and a few tears in his eyes.

"Thanks." He wiped his eyes.

Any time.

Finding Ryou in the brooding room, Hunk suddenly felt his stomach drop to his feet. A vision of a mountain came to mind, giving Hunk some courage to step closer to Ryou.

"Hunk." Ryou tilted towards him, his eyes looking more tired despite having drank half of the pot already.

"Hey," Hunk smiled awkwardly. "Ryou."

"Feeling any better?" Ryou took another big sip, swishing around the coffee in the pot.

"Not really." Hunk looked out to see an asteroid field. "Sorry for what I said earlier."

Ryou said nothing but took another sip.

"I know I'm not the only one who misses Earth." Hunk continued. "And it was incredibly insensitive of me to act like that."

Ryou huffed and smiled. "No need for formalities Hunkules. You can speak freely."

"Shit's fucked." Hunk said without thinking.

That seemed to catch Ryou by surprise, judging by his silence and goofy smile.

"Indeed it is." Ryou finally managed to find his words but they were stuck between his laughter.

Silence fell and Hunk could feel another weight, this time a small push.

"What do you miss the most?" Hunk asked.

Ryou hummed. "Hot springs."

Hunk nodded. "There's this beach my family goes to in summer. It was down the road from a hiking tail too and it was so fun to go up the mountain and see the ocean in a totally different angle, you know?"

"Mm-hm." Ryou titled his head again, holding his chin. "And there's a surreal feeling of being up so high yet still feeling your feet on solid ground."

"Foundations." Hunk echoed the Yellow Lion's words.

"Hmm." Ryou didn't seem to notice.

One asteroid bumped into another one, causing a sort of domino effect as the two asteroids bumped into more and more until one seemed to be heading towards the Castle.

"Should we move?" Hunk asked.

"Maybe." Ryou shrugged, seeing the asteroid coming closer. "What's on this side of the Castle again?"

"Ryou." Hunk glared.

"Right right." Ryou finished his coffee and began walking. "Should we get Allura or Coran?"

"I can get the little drone to hit the asteroid a few times," Hunk suggested as he followed. "Get it moving in another direction."

"I'll hop on Keith's station."

In the bridge, the two took their positions, now piloting the little red and yellow drones. 

"Hey Ryou?" Hunk said as he adjusted his grip on the controls, feeling his hands clamming up.

"Yeah?" Ryou had a focused look in his eye. Well, as focused as a man who used to be a gladiator could be.

"When we get back to Earth," Hunk envisioned the ocean again. "I wanna show you that beach."

Ryou paused and looked at him with a smile. "Sounds like a field trip."

Hunk sputtered a laugh. "Yeah, sounds too nice for you after all the times you dragged our butts to those junk yards."

"It was a valuable lesson in how wasteful our modern society has gotten and how to combat it by making things to last and repairing them when they get broken instead of replacing them." Ryou argued as the two began to make pot shots at the asteroid.

"You just wanted us to find the parts for you." Hunk flashed a smile.

"Maybe." Ryou rolled his eyes.

It didn't take long to redirect the asteroid, but Ryou and Hunk stayed at their stations, making a game out of it while they were there, going off to bed while still arguing about who won.


	10. Sunshine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do I ship Hunk and Shay? Maybe. Probably. I think I do. Enjoy!

Doc was right, unsurprisingly.

A few days off and Hunk was already feeling better than he had in a long while. Sure, it wasn't a complete fix, he did have to do his new morning ritual of catching himself up again, but he felt ready to take on whatever the day had in store for him.

And today was a specially planned all-day hangout with Shay.

"Have fun on your date sweetie!" Hunk's mom called from the living room.

"Mom I keep telling you," Hunk felt his cheeks burning. "We're just friends."

"Whatever you say," she gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

Outside, a familiar seek black motorcycle with a shiny silver Voltron V on the hood was parked on the curb and its driver was waiting.

"Sup." Ryou, dressed fittingly like a motorcycle bad boy with a leather jacket and sunglasses, greeted Hunk with a high five.

"And like I keep telling you, I don't need a ride." Still, Hunk wasn't about to ignore the ever sacred greeting of bros.

Ryou playfully pouted. "Aw, they grow up so fast." He ruffled Hunk's hair.

Hunk rolled his eyes, readjusting his grip on his things and checking the time on his phone.

"Hey," Ryou booped Hunk's nose and lowered his sunglasses. "You got this."

"Not a date!" Hunk insisted as he began walking away. "Just two friends hanging out!"

"Slow and steady Hunkules!" Ryou advised as he returned to his motorcycle and went on his way.

Getting to the agreed meeting spot with some time to spare, Hunk double checked that he had everything he needed.

"Keys, wallet, phone," Hunk patted his pockets and turned his attention to the basket he was holding."Got water, sweet tea, fruit punch, fruit salad, cucumber sandwiches-"

A large feathered form swoop down as he brought out one of the sandwich containers and pecked at his hand with a loud squack.

Luckily, Hunk managed to close the basket and keep the contents safe.

"Dangit Muns!" Hunk looked over his hand, seeing only a stinging red scratch. "Go bug Kosmo or something!"

"Hunk?" Shay's voice was like music to his ears.

"Oh-" Hunk regained his composure. "Shay! Sorry about that," he waved his hand. "Muns tried to help himself to some food."

"Oh, I see." Shay smiled a bit. "I'm sorry for making you wait so long. Things are quite busy with the coronation planning. Coran and Romelle just can't agree on anything."

Hunk was about to get into work mode but remembered he was supposed to be relaxing. "Right. I saw Ryou earlier and if anyone can get people together it'd be him."

"I'll keep that in mind the next time they are yelling in two different dialects of Altean." Shay nodded and it was like a warm ray of sunshine. "Shall we get going?"

"Let's." Hunk bowed and the two made their way through the streets and towards the park.

The more things changed the more they stayed the same. Humans and aliens were walking about, each of them busy with one thing or another. A couple of fluffy Galra were playing frisbee with an Altean and one of the Mers, tripping over a small lizard-like alien that was sunbathing. A large triceratop-alien was talking with a human woman as their kids played in the sandbox. Some of Pidge's space caterpillars were chasing around some ducks.

"Things are incredibly peaceful now," Shay said as they found a nice spot under a tree.

"Yeah." Hunk saw one of the fluffy Galra trip on the ducks and fall flat on their back. "It's hard to imagine that things were..."

He wanted to finish that sentence but he knew it wasn't hard to imagine. It was incredibly easy to remember the fighting and late nights of staying awake wondering when the alarms would go off.

"You know I've seen so many sunrises since we've met," Shay said, breaking Hunk out of his darker thoughts again. "And I find each one to be more amazing than the one before it."

"Really?" Hunk asked.

"Yes." Shay's smile seemed to be more radiant. "The clouds are never the same. Sometimes the sky is this beautiful pink, other times it's a vibrant red. There's so many colors and no matter how many times I see them, they always feel new."

Hunk felt a warmth in his chest. "You know, sometimes I used to hate getting up early, but one time I woke up just as the sun was rising."

"And?" Shay excitedly turned to him.

"Well," Hunk felt his brain starting to fuzz up and his tongue was caught on something. "I saw the way the light slowly filled up the room. It was really cold the night before and feeling that warm light just felt really-"

"Nice." Shay finished for him.

"Yeah." Hunk nodded, setting down the basket. "Muns isn't around is he?" Hunk looked around, trying to find the not so little thief.

Shay laughed. "No," she said. "I believe he stayed behind to-" she paused. "What word did Pidge use again? Troll?"

Hunk nearly dropped the pitcher of tea. "That sounds about right." He noticed how Shay seemed to be fixated on the clouds, and just how...wonderful she looked, soaking up the sun. "How are you liking Earth?"

"Hm?" It was Shay's turn to be surprised. "Oh it's wonderful! Everyone is so nice and welcoming!"

"Glad to hear it." Hunk smiled and handed her a cucumber sandwich.

Shay smiled and gasped. "My favorite!" She nearly ate the whole thing in one bite.

In all honesty, it seemed almost every new food was her favorite, and that was completely fine with Hunk. Fruits and vegetables were pretty high on this list, which made preparing the picnic both a breeze and a hassle.

Fresh produce had to be kept fresh, though one time he did see her eat a mushy brown banana with the same smile she had when eating a fresh strawberry. Preparations ranged between simply cutting up the produce for the salads and going a bit more complicated, like the vegetable stir fry and some of the desserts.

But all in all, Hunk was happy to see Shay so excited about everything.

The day went by in a blur of smiles and places and Hunk didn't realize how worn out he was until the two ended up on a bench on a hiking trail on the other side of the city, watching the sun begin to set.

This time, when Hunk looked at her, she seemed sad.

"Shay?" He said gently, ignoring the ache in his feet and legs. "You feeling alright?"

"O-oh," Shay tried to smile again. "Yes, It's just-" it quickly fell into a frown. "The sun is going away now."

"Oh," Hunk looked and saw the bright blue fading to purple and orange. "Yeah. Sunsets always have this..." he tilted his head a bit, trying to think of a word.

"Mourning." Shay finished his sentence again.

Hunk was about to disagree but she was right. To see the dark quiet of night overtaking the liveliness of daytime was always a bit sad. "Yeah."

The sun dipped lower and lower.

"But," Hunk looked up at her. "It's a bittersweet feeling. Can't have a sunset without a sunrise, you know?"

Shay thought about that and smiled.

The beautiful silence of the moment was ruined by another squack and a large wing brushing by Hunk's face.

"Muns!"

Sure, Hunk had to endure a bit more teasing when he got home but it was worth having to deal with Odin's crazy bird.

This time, when Hunk was trying to sleep, it was a feeling of needing to do one last thing that kept him from closing his eyes. He turned to his phone, not paying attention to the time, and reset his alarm.

Hunk didn't consider himself a morning person but this was something he had to do.

When his alarm did go off, he let it ring only two times before turning it off. Quickly, but quietly, he got up and heading to the roof, noting that was still a bit dark out.

In just a few moments, the sun would be coming up, he thought to himself.

It wasn't the same sun he and Shay saw on her planet, but the warmth of it was what mattered.

There it is, he smiled, seeing a tiny inkling of light peeking over the horizon.

And as the dark of night gave way to day, Hunk felt more rested and more... what was the word he was looking for...?

Fulfilled?

Yeah, he thought.

Fulfilled.

"Good morning." He said to himself, hoping the wind will carry his voice and somehow Shay would hear it as well.


	11. Private Conversation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some more feels. Come on, you can't tell me that none of the Paladins were thinking "aw man Shiro's gone, Allura what do we do?" because ALLURA. IS. A. LEADER. TOO.
> 
> Before I go on a tangent, enjoy!

Shiro was gone, apparently he chose Keith to be the new leader, and Hunk's thoughts were going a bit wild as he tried to rationalize it.

Not nepotism, or maybe a little bit. They were pretty close, ever since... something happened to Keith's dad, and Hunk wasn't going to force that kind of baggage out of him, especially not now.

Skill wise, Keith was pretty good. Quick thinker, and if they were going by chain of command, then it would make sense that the Red Paladin, the right hand man of the Black Paladin, would step up if anything should happen.

"But Allura's a pretty good leader too." Hunk said out loud as he put the cooking tray inside the oven. Keith had stormed off into the training room, and Hunk swore he could see tears in the poor guy's eyes. "So why not Allura?"

Someone did need to pilot the Castle, he figured. However, it's not like the Castle had specific requirements. Coran could pilot it no problem.

Hunk's thoughts went back to the near suicidal mission to rescue Allura from Zarkon.

"She is a princess," Hunk drumemd his fingers on the counter. "She can take care of herself but still, royals do need bodyguards for a reason and we're like her knights."

But that still left some other questions.

Without Keith in the Red Lion, they couldn't form Voltron, and obviously Keith couldn't be in two places at once or remotely pilot his Lion.

"Or could he?" Hunk asked himself.

Then again, Allura did say that the Black Lion required the most energy to pilot. Shiro already seemed so exhausted, especially after any battles. Hunk remembered finding a suspiciously Shiro-shaped figure skulking around the halls near the kitchen when he would be doing some late night stress baking, he couldn't even begin to imagine how much energy it would take to pilot two Lions at once.

"Hmmm...." Hunk held his chin and was suddenly conscious of that habit. "What about Ryou?"

Paladins and Lions did have matching... quintessence? Souls? And with Shiro and Ryou being twins, on some level their quintessence should mirror each other. Ryou was also a leader-like type of guy.

"If Ryou pilots the Black Lion, Keith can still pilot Red without exerting himself," Hunk was doing some finger calculations.

That is if she lets him.

"Yellow?" Hunk looked around, sensing his Lion's presence.

Black is... inconsolable.

"I bet," Hunk sighed. He felt his heart drop when he saw the Black Lion so lifeless in her chamber when they tried to get Shiro. "Does she-" he paused. "Know what happened to him?"

A silence passed as Yellow's presence faded.

Hunk felt smaller, somehow. "You still there big guy?"

A madness takes hold of her mind.

"Madness?" Hunk didn't like the sound of that.

She will not respond. She only chants about keeping her Paladin safe.

"Oh," Hunk hissed sympathetically. "That's...concerning."

Incredibly so. Or, as Green's Paladin would say-

"Don't." Hunk interrupted. "Meme speak does not suit you."

Okay normie.

Hunk nearly laughed as he heard such a majestic and booming voice use such a word.

"You seem chipper," Ryou's voice interrupted.

Hunk shrieked in surprise. "Oh, Ryou." Hunk was now aware that he's been, seemingly, talking to himself for a while. "Uhh... what's up?"

Ryou's whole body seemed exhausted, the way his shoulders drooped and how he crossed his arms. "Could be better." He shrugged.

"How uh-" Hunk looked at the oven, the contents still not done baking. "How long were you standing there?"

"Just in time to apparently miss out on a mighty Lion of Voltron use meme speak." Ryou rubbed his eyes, which Hunk noticed to be a bit puffy and red. "Whatcha makin'?"

"Just some muffins." Hunk answered, pretending not to notice how hoarse Ryou's voice was. "Or at least I hope it's muffins. Really trying not to make the same blunder as the cookies."

"Not sure what that's about but I trust you." Ryou sat on the counter.

Another silence, even Yellow seemed to have backed off.

"Ryou-" Hunk saw how Ryou tensed up at his voice. "What do we do now?"

With a sigh, Ryou rubbed his chin, which seemed to have the tiniest amount of stubble. "We try to make this work. We find some way to fill-" Ryou paused, his eyes glistening but looking at something far away. "To fill Taka's spot."

"Apaprently Keith's supposed to do that." Hunk shrugged and said quickly.

"A stupid decision, really." Ryou hissed and wiped his face. "Should be Allura."

"That's what I was thinking!" Hunk suddenly shouted. "I mean Keith's a good pilot-"

"A great pilot-" Ryou corrected.

"Right, but no offense, his temper isn't exactly-" Hunk bobbed his shoulders up and down a bit, making an unsure gesture and trying not to grimace too much.

"I'll try to talk to Black." Ryou said suddenly.

Hunk was surprised at that.

Not right now.

Yellow's voice was quick and seemed a bit anxious.

"Like, right now?" Hunk asked.

"The muffins." Ryou said.

"What?" Hunk raised an eyebrow.

"The muffins." Ryou said again. "They're done."

It took the faintest whiff of burning bread for Hunk to realize what he meant.

"Sh-!" Hunk rushed to grab his oven mitts and open the oven.

Luckily, they weren't too burned, just a little crispier on the edges than what Hunk was aiming for, but they looked edible.

"Okay, they're safe." Hunk took off his mitts and set the muffins to cool. "What were you saying earlier?"

Ryou was rocking a little bit, his fingers fiddling with the edge of his gloves. "Huh?"

"About the Black Lion?" Hunk didn't like how Ryou seemed so closed off.

"Right." Ryou nodded. "Right right right. I'll-" he ruffled his hair and shook a bit. "I'll go talk to-uh, her?"

Hunk shrugged.

"I'll-" Ryou covered his mouth and sighed. "I'll see if I can get through to her."

With that, Ryou stood up and was about to head out.

"Ryou." Hunk, gently, put a hand on Ryou's shoulder. "Don't push yourself too hard."

Despite how tense he was, Ryou managed to relax the tiniest bit and let out a breath. "Right."

When the door closed, Hunk felt Yellow's presence again.

Be strong, Paladin.

Hunk took a deep breath and nodded. "Right."

Grabbing the plate of muffins, Hunk made his way to the training room. There, Keith was still training, though Hunk could tell he wasn't focused at all and seemed one or two more rounds from passing out.

"Hey." He didn't raise his voice but it was loud enough to get Keith's attention. "You hungry?"

Keith paused and wiped from sweat from his brow. "No."

"Come on," Hunk passed a small smile. "You know you want one."

Keith glared at him, then at the muffins, then back at Hunk.

"One." Keith stormed up and snatched one muffin from the plate, angrily biting into it.

Hunk could see some bruises here and there, and wondered if Ryou had talked to him yet, figuring the two would be inseparable now.

"Make sure Ryou gets one," Keith growled lowly. "He hasn't been eating since..."

"I'll get to him later," Hunk put a hand on Keith's shoulder. "Right now, you're my main concern."

After making sure everyone, including Allura, Coran, and the mice, got a muffin, Hunk was back in the kitchen and keeping an eye on the baked goods currently in the oven.

It would have felt lonely if not for Yellow's presence hanging in the air.


	12. Personal Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorta a sequel to Chapter 3. I'm not doing these in any particular order, just "whatever seems to fit" to me. Meaning all semblance of plot jumps all over the place and even I forget details sometimes. Also tried something a bit different here, hope you like it!

6:25 AM

The alarm clock beeped and beeped until Hunk, with a little too much force, hit the off button.

Rolling over, Hunk reached for his phone and the light was a bit too bright for his tired eyes. Still, he had to check what was on the calendar.

"Last vacation day," Hunk read aloud, half squinting half glaring at the little screen. "I'm sleeping in then." He shrugged and tossed the phone back on the night stand.

7:30 AM

"Hunk! Breakfast!" His father's voice called from downstairs.

Shooting up, Hunk could smell a wonderful aroma sneaking into his room.

"Pancakes," he smiled as warm memories came to mind.

9:45 AM

"How many times do I have to tell you guys, just call me Hunk like you always do." Hunk was feeling some frustration as his classmates-old classmates he a voice in the back of his head reminded him- seemed insistent on calling him by his last name.

"But you're Professor's assistant now." Thomas smirked. "That makes you-"

"Nope." Hunk waved his hands in an X formation. "You're not making me old!"

Ava signed and stuck out her tongue teasingly.

"I'm the same age as you guys!" Hunk argued.

"I'm pretty sure Paladins have a higher rank." Charlie argued. "You guys did save the universe after all."

Hunk sighed. "Guys, seriously. I'm still the same Hunk you guys had class with."

"But you've been to space though." Peter raised an eyebrow.

Ava signed again, nodding in agreement.

"Well yeah, but it's not like I suddenly have an infinite well of wisdom," Hunk shrugged and signed as best as he could remember. "I still can't decide which girl I like."

Ava made a huff and signed to Charlie, though it's not like Hunk couldn't see what she was saying.

"Shay is just a friend!" Hunk shouted.

Ava flinched and put a hand to her ear, her face scrunched in a bit of anger.

Hunk's face felt a bit hot as he began to sign. "Shay is just a friend."

Charlie and Ava shared an unconvinced look.

"Aw don't worry about those two." Malcolm suddenly put his arm around Hunk's shoulder. "The three of us will be your wingmen Professor-"

"Don't even say it!"

12:02 AM

Hunk had just walked into his family's garage and did a double take.

"How did you get in here?" Hunk was surprised he could still recognize the garage.

"I knocked?" Ryou said, covered in grease and oil. "Your mom makes some awesome pie by the way."

"Dude I have a full day of doing nothing," Hunk did notice some things out of place and tidied up said small things. "I am not going to babysit you."

Ryou began sputtering in surprise and offense. "Babysit me?"

"Yeah!" Hunk smirked a bit. "Maybe I should have let the class call me Professor."

"Oh look at you, all grown up." Ryou smirked back. "Are you gonna do your taxes now?"

"Right after sending you to time out." Hunk lightly punched Ryou's shoulder and smiled when he returned the gesture. "So whatcha doing to my dad's car?"

"Ah!" Ryou clapped and attempted to wipe some grease off his face. "I was just checking out what he has in this puppy. Looks pretty well taken care of."

Hunk puffed his chest out proudly. "With the help of yours truly of course." He realized something as he looked at Ryou. "Wait if you're just checking it out how'd you-" he gestured to Ryou's face.

Ryou blinked and his foot slid a bottle of oil out of sight. "Don't worry about that."

2:15 PM

After not so gently but lovingly shooing Ryou out of his house, and with plenty of food to go courtesy of both his mom and his sister, Hunk flopped onto his bed and looked at his phone, seeing a few texts from Lance, Pidge, and Keith.

More memes from Lance, which he snorted at.

Updates from Pidge.

A picture of some weird rodent thing Huns found and dropped at Keith's feet.

Speaking of the clone-bros, a text popped up from Doc.

'How you feeling?' It read.

"Doing better," Hunk said quietly as his fingers typed.

A few seconds passed by.

'No stress baking?' Doc asked.

"Nope." Hunk began to reply. "Just regular baking with my family."

Another pause before a smiley face appeared from Doc's end.

Hunk huffed a smile.

5:38 PM

Dinner was just about done and Hunk was once again surprised to see Ryou in his house.

"Dude." Hunk began to say.

"I was invited and my polite upbringing forbids me from turning down an invitation." Ryou shrugged, careful with the box in his hands.

Hunk shot a suspicious but well meaning glare.

"I brought dessert." Ryou opened the box, revealing a bunch of little perfectly golden brown buns.

Hunk sighed. "Come in."

Ryou silently fist pumped in victory and made his way to the table.

8:49 PM

After once again politely shooing out Ryou, Hunk found himself on his bed again and staring up at the ceiling.

He had just taken a shower, brushed and flossed his teeth, and was wearing the ever so comfy Paladin pajamas.

Another set of texts caught his attention.

This time, Shiro had sent a meme with an odd caption in a language Hunk didn't recognize. The texts that followed were apologies and Shiro begging that Hunk not tell Lance he liked memes.

"We've been in each other's heads, how does he not know you meme?" Hunk said his question out loud as he sent it to Shiro.

Shiro only replied with a frowney face.

Hunk sighed but smiled. "Can you tell Ryou to tell me before he drops by my place?"

A pause.

'I only promise to try.' Followed by a thumbs up.

Hunk rolled his eyes but smiled anyways.

Speaking of the devil, a text from Ryou appeared, along with a selfie.

"Yes Ryou, you look amazing for your age." Hunk joked.

Another text, this time Ryou was pointing behind him, complete with a big red circle on the window behind him.

There, Hunk could see two pairs of glowing eyes and sharp looking beaks fixated on Ryou.

"You're on your own." Hunk replied, using a shrug emoji.

Ryou sent an angry frowney face in reply.

"Good night." Hunk replied, set the alarm, and put the phone on do not disturb mode.

3:05 AM

Hunk shot awake as he remembered something.

In an instant, he felt Yellow's presence reassuring him.

"Hey big guy, do you mind passing a message along?" Hunk asked quietly.

It seems important.

"Just remind the others about the all-hands on deck agreement for Allura's coronation party." Hunk looked at phone and couldn't help but flinch at the sudden brightness in his eyes.

Will do.

6:25 AM

The multitude of texts from the others wasn't what Hunk was expecting to wake up to, but a few missed minutes of sleep was worth making sure everything was perfect today.


	13. Home Away From Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY HUNK! Some feels, some fluff, let's give Hunk some love!

After doing the math about a dozen times, Hunk sighed and wiped his face.

"Yep." He tightened his headband. "Today's the day."

What was he going to do?

He couldn't call home.

The signal either couldn't reach or it would tip off the Galra to Earth's location, which was already a matter of time considering they were already at the edge of the solar system.

Hell, they've already been to Earth since Keith was half Galra, meaning at least one of them got to Earth about twenty or so years ago.

"Keith was two when I was born," Hunk muttered to himself. "Shiro and Ryou were...." he counted again. "Ten? Technically two and a half?" He shook his head, as if to physically forget the leap year thing from his calculations. "Lance was born when I was about seven months. Me and Lance were two when Pidge was born and..." He sighed again. "Allura and Coran were still in the cryopods."

Scratching his head, he got up.

"Can't make breakfast sulking in bed." He stretched and began getting dressed.

In the kitchen, he immediately noticed the faint whiff of something sweet. He opened the oven and his suspicions were confirmed.

"Someone's been cooking in my kitchen." He narrowed his eyes.

Couldn't be Ryou, unless he was determined to cover his incredibly obvious tracks.

Lance, Pidge, and Keith kept their tracks to a minimum, but Hunk could see from the still in-stock ice cream that Lance wasn't the culprit.

Shiro was a ghost, only taking one or two things at a time and almost always from the foods that no one else ate, such as the package of fruit bars from a jungle planet they visited months ago.

"Still full." Hunk shook the little package and took one for himself. "Hmmm."

Coran made the most sense, but the distinct lack of whining meant no weird Coran-specialties had been cooked up for the Paladins.

Allura.... didn't cook. She could cook and was pretty good at it but from the way Coran was incredibly insistent on hovering over her shoulder every step of the way, Hunk would have to applaud her stealth skills for sneaking a whole baked dish under Coran's nose.

Hunk was about to begin cooking when he noticed a note on the cabinet.

"Meet us in the dining room, love Team Voltron." Hunk read the note. "Knew it was Ryou."

Gut instinct prevails once more.

"Hey Yellow," Hunk said as he began making his way to the dining room. "You know what the team's up to?"

Yes.

"Surprise party?" Hunk smiled, remembering just how diligent Ryou was about birthdays back when he taught at the Garrison.

A silence...

Perhaps.

"Okay okay," Hunk waved his hands. "I'll act surprised."The dining room was just up ahead and Hunk covered his eyes. "See? No peeking."

He heard the doors open and he stepped inside.

"Oh my gosh! How sweet of you guys!" Hunk uncovered his eyes and was surprised to see...

Nothing.

The dining room was empty, save for one cupcake.

Hunk huffed and frowned. "How sweet of you guys." He picked it up, halfheartedly admiring the yellow lemon scented frosting when he noticed another note. "Did we say dining room? We meant the bridge. Love, Team Voltron."

Bamboozled.

"Haha, very funny big guy." Hunk rolled his eyes and headed to the bridge. He was ready to act offended and had his chest puffed out ready to ham it up when he noticed the bridge was also empty. "Oh-c'mo-fff-" he sputtered. "Really?"

Another cupcake sat on his station, with another note.

"Whoops Hand slipped. What we meant to say was meet us in the Yellow Lion's chamber. Love, Team Voltron."

Bamboozled yet again.

Hunk smiled and shook his head. "What am I going to do with you guys?"

As he stepped towards Yellow's chamber, Hunk stopped.

He knew they were behind the door. Logically speaking, that was the only place left for them to go in the Castle. The little wild goose chase was kinda fun, possibly just making sure everything was perfect before he walked in.

Yet he couldn't help but feel homesick.

The last surprise party he had was...

Hunk shook his head. "No crying. At least wait until the cake comes out."

Steeling himself, Hunk took a deep breath and walked into the chamber.

POP! POP! POP!

"Surprise!" A chorus of voices and flurries of confetti greeted him.

"Happy birthday Hunk!" Lance tooted a little noise maker.

Hunk looked around, seeing everyone smiling and happy and-

"You guys," he whimpered, feeling the tears about to fall now.

"Dammit!" Ryou yelled, looking at an apologetic Shiro. "I knew that was too much lemon!"

Hunk reached out and pulled everyone into a hug. Luckily, they were all already grouped together so closely, so it made the task much much easier.

"You guys are the best." Hunk sobbed happily.

"You're the best!" Pidge corrected.

"Yeah, we'd all probably be starving if it wasn't for your cooking." Keith smiled a bit.

"Hey!" Coran seemed offended, even more so when Keith shrugged a response.

Pulling back, Hunk wiped his eyes and looked around again.

Sure, he would have liked to spent his birthday with his family but then again...Voltron was his family too.

And he couldn't be happier.

"Okay first of all," Hunk sniffled. "Whose idea was it to make me run around the Castle?"

Lance pointed to Pidge. Pidge pointed to Ryou. Ryou pointed to Shiro. Shiro pointed back to Pidge. Keith also pointed to Pidge. Allura and Coran pointed at each other. The mice seemed split between Pidge and Lance.

Hunk laughed. "Alright alright."

As the festivities winded down, another sort of energy winded up. Voltron was needed to stop some Galra nearby and it's not like they especially cared about birthdays.

"So Hunk," Lance asked over the comms while they flew out in their Lions. "How's it feel to be the second adult on the team?"

"I'm nineteen." Keith said.

"Yeah you don't count as an adult Mr. Emo." Pidge snarked.

"Do I count?" Ryou asked from the Castle.

"No." Hunk, Lance, Pidge, and Keith all said.

"And to answer your question, it feels..." Hunk fiddled with Yellow's controls. "Kinda the same? I don't feel any different if that's you're asking. Like, am I supposed to whine about taxes now?"

"Not all adults do that." Shiro was somewhere between scolding them and trying to explain.

"Says you!" Ryou shouted from the Castle. "You need five times more coffee to deal with it!"

"Shiro hates paperwork," Keith raised an eyebrow. "You know that."

"Oooohhhh." Pidge and Lance both hooted as Hunk rolled his eyes.

"Shiro commits tax fraud confirmed." Lance added.

"I do not." Shiro sighed.

"Can we leave the chatter until after the mission?" Allura sounded fed up already. "Sorry for cutting the party short Hunk."

"Oh it's fine." Hunk reassured her, and possibly the others as well. "Let's go kick some Galra butt!"

With the power of birthday luck on their side, the team was practically wiping the floor with the Galra. In the middle of battle, as the team grouped up, Shiro got Hunk's attention.

"You wanna call it Hunk?"

"You bet!" Hunk smiled. "Form Voltron!"


	14. The Expert

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen I was watching(*coughcough*binging*cough*) Try Guys and their Without A Recipe videos. I HAD to include a part about Hunk judging some horrific crime against food law.

Hunk looked at the cookbook, pages stained and slightly crumpled with dog-eared corners here and there. He furrowed his eyebrows as he concentrated.

"Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Stir until evenly combined." Hunk read the instructions then to the two bowls on the counter, which was bit of a mess in its own right considering how much of a mess his little ten year old hands made. Looking back at the book he took a deep breath and nodded. "Just follow the recipe. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Nope.

Nuh uh.

Not easy peasy lemon squeezy.

But the ingredients were mixed and he was determined to finish the cake by himself.

"Oven's done heating up." Hunk got the best mitts he could find-his mom's-and opened the oven, bracing his face for the heat. It felt done and he put the somewhat messy cake into the oven, closed it, and let out a big sigh. "And now we wait."

Setting the timer, Hunk sat down and was about to mentally prepare a big speech about how grown up he was now before noticing the mess.

"Oh." He blinked. "Right."

Cleaning up made the time fly by, and he was still cleaning the mixer when the timer dinged.

Turning off the sink and grabbing the oven mitts, Hunk took the cake out of the oven and admired the beautiful and perfect golden brown hue he managed to make, despite its lumpy shape.

"What's going on in here?" His dad was wiping his hands on a rag.

"I made a cake!" Hunk excitedly answered. "All by myself too!"

His dad smiled and came closer, taking a whiff. "Smells good."

Hunk's smile grew wider.

"You know what comes next, right?" His dad asked.

"We eat it!" Hunk raised his hands.

His dad, still smiling, raised an eyebrow. "We let it cool."

"And then we eat it!" Hunk nodded.

The sound of his dad laughing made Hunk beam even more. "How about we go check on the truck while we wait?"

"Good idea!" Hunk practically bounced and skipped all the way to the garage.

......

............

"So you just wanna make chocolate?" Hunk raised an eyebrow.

He didn't think anything was weird when Ava asked for his help with something in the kitchen. She was a big fan of Hunk's lunches and would often ask for the recipe and if Hunk could show her to make it.

When he saw that all eight of the girls in his class were in the Garrison's private kitchen, he got a little worried.

"Valentine's Day is coming up!" Lizz, who seemed to be the mastermind behind this project, declared. "And what better way to celebrate than by making chocolate?"

"Lizz wants to give Thomas a special chocolate," Charlie sighed and explained as Ava was still signing an apology to Hunk.

"Hey!" Lizz yelled, face red. "It's not for Thomas!"

"It's for someone that's for sure." Charlie shook her head and shot a small smirk at Lizz, causing the other girls to giggle.

"And you need me because...?" Hunk raised an eyebrow.

Ava stop signing an apology and signed something else.

"She's right." Lizz nodded and pointed at Hunk with a determined look in her eye. " You're the resident cooking expert in the class!"

"I can cook too you know," Charlie sighed again.

"So," Lizz grabbed Hunk by his shoulders. "Will you make sure we don't burn down the kitchen and get in trouble with Sanda?"

Hunk stared wide eyed at her, then to the other girls.

"Fine." Hunk sighed. "Not like I have anything else to do right now."

"Great!" Lizz dragged him over to the counter. "What do we do first?"

......

............

"What is this?" Hunk squinted at the lumpy brown mess on the plate in front of him.

"Its a bagel." Ryou said flatly.

Hunk looked at it again, seeing what looked like either chocolate chips or overcooked nuts peppering the so-called bagel. "No its not."

"Listen, my father's favorite breakfast is a hearty bowl of raisin oatmeal. He would often tell us he'd eat it every day if he hadn't met my mother." Ryou began to say a bit too dramatically. "I recreated that wonderful deliciousness in this bagel."

"You made an abomination is what you did." Hunk looked again, now seeing that the oddly shaped chunks were supposed to be raisins. Or at the very least, the closest space equivalent they could find. "Why does it smell like that?"

"My father's favorite dinner was spicy curry-" Ryou began to say with that same over the top voice before Hunk put a finger to his mouth to shut him up.

"Ryou I swear if this is spicy I'm shoving it up your nose." Hunk warned.

"You said to be creative." Ryou mumbled under the finger still pressing his lips together.

"I did say that." Hunk sighed and grabbed the bagel, noticing its equally misshapen brethren on a nearby tray and took a bite.

Big mistake.

"N-" Hunk tried to say something but he couldn't decide what words should go first. "No-uh." He tried to spit it out but found no napkin or trash can next to him. He settled for the plate. "That is a mix of flavors I do not want in my mouth again."

"But is it creative?" Ryou asked.

"Definitely creative," Hunk coughed. "But that is not food. No one would take a second bite out of that."

"Taka would." Ryou pouted.

"Because he has Stockholm Syndrome when it comes to your cooking." Hunk grabbed some water and tried to drown out the awful amalgamation of flavors that bombarded his taste buds no matter how much he kept drinking. "Okay, Keith? How did yours come out?"

Keith looked at the tray of slightly misshapen-but otherwise good looking bagels on his tray, then to Ryou, then to Hunk, then back to the bagels.

"Every day for as long as I can remember, my father-" Keith began to say.

"Why are you guys like this?" Hunk interrupted, wondering what he got himself into when he tried to teach the worst cooks of the team how to make something edible.

......

............

Yama and Kai were getting pretty good in the kitchen.

They worked together incredibly well, having their own little language of sharp yelp-like shouts that stumped even Shiro and Ryou.

Their specialties were seafood and smoked meats.

Made sense, Hunk thought. Kai spent a while on his own near a water source, even losing his hand in the process. Yama might have gotten his skill by trying to preserve what food the clone-bros could find while out on their own.

Anything else was... well, expected from a Shirogane.

"What-?" Hunk was trying to make sense of the mess in front of him. "What even-?"

The oven was on fire, first of all.

And that was the least of their problems compared to whatever tentacled thing was squirming under Yama's grip on the counter.

"We're trying to make on of those fancy recipes!" Yama smiled and flinched as a tentacle slapped him.

"I think the oven's done preheating." Kai looked at the fire with a smile.

Hunk took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Shouldn't have left you two alone." Hunk muttered to himself. "Should never leave a Shirogane alone in the kitchen."

The oven made a popping sound and the flames grew, nearly getting Kai in the face.

"Ever." Hunk sighed and grabbed a fire extinguisher, making a mental note to properly teach these two about how to navigate a kitchen without burning it down.


	15. Haven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *insert RWBY song "Home" here* FEELS!

Hunk was up at an odd time of the night.

He had been helping Ryou figure out the limits of the sentient music boxes when he took a break and went to grab some snacks for the two of them, noticing someone else was in the kitchen.

"Keith?" Hunk raised an eyebrow. "When did you get back?"

"Does it matter?" Keith growled, glaring blankly at the cup of space fruit juice in his hand.

"Um, yeah?" Hunk tried to smile, noticing a few cuts on Keith's Blade armor and how frazzled he looked. "I would have made something for you."

Keith sighed and it looked like he was physically shaking. "Sorry, it's just..." he chugged down the fruit juice and stood up. "I gotta go."

"No-" Hunk put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't run, Keith. We're all worried about you."

That made Keith freeze.

"Ryou tells us that you're really working your butt off with the Blades." Hunk tried to smooth out some of Keith's hair, catching the faintest but strongest whiff of sweat and something metallic. "You can take a break, you know that right?"

Keith looked down. "I have to find her. I need answers, Hunk."

"Right now, you need some rest." Hunk gently got him to sit down. "I'll make you some food, we kept your bed nice and tidy just how you like it."

"Uh huh." Keith nodded.

"I've been-" Hunk paused. "Keeping your armor clean. I would say I'm keeping it from rusting up but I don't think Altean armor works that way. Like, is it even a metal?"

"Uh huh." Keith repeated.

Hunk narrowed his eyes a bit.

"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." Hunk said with a well practiced quickness.

"Uh huh."

Sure enough, Keith wasn't actually listening. His eyes, blank and tired, focused on some empty space both right in front of him and far away.

Hunk tried not to audibly sigh, and went about making something for Keith to eat.

"I'm making your favorite," Hunk said as he began preparing the ingredients.

"Uh huh."

"That risotto with the strawberries?" Hunk tried not to say too much, not knowing what was going on in Keith's mind and some part of him selfishly not wanting to know.

"Uh huh."

In a few minutes, the food was done, with a few more for Ryou and himself on the side. He set the plate down in front of Keith, noticing the tiniest of eye movements indicating he was finally snapping out of it.

"You'll feel better if you eat." Hunk said gently, waiting for Keith to eat first.

Keith's eyes wavered but slowly, he began eating. Carefully and agonizingly slow, but he was eating and that was enough for Hunk.

Near the end of the meal, Ryou came in.

Quickly Hunk and Ryou exchanged a signed conversation about what was going on, with Ryou quickly noticing just how small Keith was looking.

What's wrong? Ryou signed.

He won't say. Hunk signed back. Kinda don't want to know.

Probably for the better. Ryou seemed unsure of himself. Want me to take him?

Let him finish eating! Hunk tried not to growl but he made sure to make an angry face as he signed.

Ryou conceded, grabbed his bowl, and gestured for Hunk to keep an eye on Keith.

Hunk flashed a thumbs up and off Ryou went.

"I'm fine." Keith sighed.

"What?" Hunk was surprised to hear Keith's voice at such a volume. It wasn't loud by any means but it was louder than the soft whispers he had earlier.

"I know what you and Ryou were talking about." Keith finished his meal and set the bowl down. "I just... feel tired." He sighed.

"Long day?" Hunk took both of their empty bowls and set them in the sink to soak.

"Long week." Keith wiped his face. "They're always on my ass about being stealthy. Don't give away your position. Don't rush in without knowing all the risks. Don't even think about trying to sneak more food from the kitchen. I'm still growing!" Keith put his hands on the table with a bit of force. "I need the nutrients!"

"I hear ya." Hunk gave a sympathetic smile. "Like, once we hit the teen years we basically turn into cats. All we wanna do is eat and sleep and maybe run around for like ten minutes like a crazy person in the middle of the night."

Keith managed to laugh a bit., which made Hunk laugh. It didn't last long but he was smiling now.

"They tell me about her, you know?" Keith said, rubbing his hands together loosely. "About...my mom."

"Really?" Hunk was surprised.

"Yeah but not much." Keith scowled a bit. "Just that she's smart and dedicated and hasn't blown her cover yet." He sighed. "Not about who she is. Not like Dad wrote about her in his journals."

"Okay that has got to be one of the cutest things I've ever heard from you." Hunk smiled.

Keith smiled again. "He would go on and on about how wonderful she was. How she always seemed so serious but looked at everything with this...." he tried to gesture. "Look. You know?"

Hunk nodded, not understanding but getting the gist of what Keith was saying.

"Everything was so interesting to her." Keith kept talking. "And reading about how Dad fell in love with her...it makes me... mad..." Keith's smile fell. "That Kolivan and the other Blades don't talk about her like that."

It sounded frustrating.

Keith had a certain vision of his mom in his mind. A vision that was slowly getting corrupted by the clinical way her so called allies used to talk about her. Day by day, every mission he goes on eats away at what little optimism he had.

It made sense, though. She couldn't contact the Blades without risking her position. The Blades just can't tell Keith where she is either, lest the both of them be in danger.

And without Keith...

Hunk shuddered. He didn't want to think about getting the call from Kolivan-or another Blade-about how Keith didn't come back from a mission. Or if the Blades would even tell them about it in the first place.

"How's Lance doing?" Keith suddenly asked.

"Hm?" Hunk snapped out of his thoughts. "Oh. He's uh, doing fine. He spaces out more now. I think it's because the Red Lion and the Blue Lion both talk to him."

Keith huffed. "Red is a bit chatty."

"I figured that would have been Blue. With the whole thing about Paladins and Lions having mirrored quintessence." Hunk shrugged.

"What is quintessence anyways?" Keith shifted in his seat.

"From the way Allura talks about it I think it's your soul." Hunk narrowed his eyes as he held his chin. "Or natural life energy?"

"Isn't that the same thing?" Keith raised an eyebrow.

Hunk shrugged again.

Keith hummed and squirmed again.

"Your legs okay there Keith?" Hunk bent down a bit to see Keith's legs but didn't see any injury, just that Keith was holding his legs together tightly, even more now that Hunk was looking.

"Yeah." Keith lied.

"You sure?" Hunk looked at him.

"I mean I've been holding it for almost a whole day." Keith shifted again.

It took a second but Hunk finally realized what he was saying.

"Oh." Hunk remembered that Keith did say he had to go earlier but thought he was talking about leaving. "Uh. Sorry? For holding you up?"

Keith smiled and stood, his movements a bit stiff. "It's fine. I-" he seemed to loosen up. "Needed this."

"Any time man." Hunk went in for a hug, feeling a bit hurt when Keith put his arms on Hunk's chest to push him away.

"Not too tight. Please." Keith cleared his throat.

"Right." Hunk gave Keith a quick tight hug and let him be on his way.

He had turned his attention to the dirty dishes in the sink for only a second when he heard a loud and heavy thud in the hallway.

"LET ME GO RYOU!" Keith yelled.

Hunk sighed but knew that Keith was still in good hands.


	16. Do It Yourself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More OC Class! Ah I love these kids, though I feel I should develop some of them a bit more. Anyways, enjoy!

"Okay," Hunk looked at the pile of scrap and junk he-cautiously-picked out of the material pile from class. "Okay. Just a simple toy car." He told himself, looking at the accompanying worksheet that was given. "Just need to make it work. It literally isn't rocket science."

Still, what was he supposed to do with dented sheets of metal, an old alarm clock, wires, and-

"Oh." He lightly slapped his forehead. "Duh! Why am I making this so hard?"

Grabbing some paper and a ruler, Hunk measured out his materials. The finished piece wouldn't look too pretty, but it would be functional, just as the guidelines stated it should.

He can work out the dents, scrub off some of the rust and buff it to some semblance of a shine, and either weld or glue the pieces together.

The alarm clock still worked, but he wouldn't exactly need it to work as an alarm clock. The parts inside, particularly the power supply and maybe the outer panels, which honestly looked pretty new aside from light scratches here and there, would prove more useful.

"Yeah I think I can work with this." Hunk smiled to himself as he organized the parts. "Easy peasy!"

"Are you talking to yourself again?" Lance asked from his bed, looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"No." Hunk immediately replied, eyes wide.

Lance's eyebrow raised even more.

"A little." Hunk smiled sheepishly.

Lance rolled his eyes and went back to studying.

Hunk started working on the motor part. As long as the motor worked, he could just slap some duct tape and metal around it in the vague shape of a car get a passing grade.

Stripping down the alarm clock, Hunk saw that it was lightly used.

"Why would someone throw out a perfectly good clock?" Hunk asked himself as he unscrewed some little screws.

Between other classes, studying, and social obligations-as in being dragged around by Lance half the time-Hunk was able to finish the toy car project with some time to spare and make it look less like a mishmash of junk.

"Whoa," Hunk gasped a little as he saw Charlie's project.

She had managed to snag a little vacuum cleaner and it showed. The dusty plastic cover was now a sleek little thing that resembled a race car.

Peter's project looked pretty good, and he definitely made some use of the little broken basket he found.

Ava's wasn't surprising. It looked like a sugar cube on wheels and had a little flag on it. Not bad considering she used a keyboard.

"Finally!" Thomas shouted a she sat in his seat. "It's done!" He set down his project, a bulky thing made from a few empty soda bottles.

"You were done with it two days ago." Hunk had heard Thomas bragging about it then.

"Yeah but I don't have to haul it around now." Thomas let out a big sigh of relief. "Yours looks pretty good Hunk," he looked at the little lopsided car on Hunk's desk.

"Thanks, it took a few tries to get it going," Hunk can still remember Lance screaming about mice and roaches as the thing shot right into the bathroom during one testing phase.

"Really?" Thomas asked, shooting a glance at Charlie. "I bet she just snapped her fingers and it made itself work."

Hunk also took a glance, seeing one lone band-aid on Charlie's fingertip. "Nah, she's just really good at this stuff."

"They don't call her the Genius Princess for nothing." Thomas forward as class began and their teacher sprang in with dust and ash on his face.

"Good afternoon," he calmly wiped his face his face with a gloved hand, somehow making it more messy.

......

............

The work room was buzzing with activity as usual.

Hunk was supposed to be in and out, twenty minutes tops, despite Doc's unofficial medical advice and the actual doctor's advice.

He made his way over to the less active corner, where he was instructed to go.

"Past the hustle and bustle, second door to the left," Hunk muttered to himself, finding the door and giving it a knock.

"Come in!" Peter's voice was welcoming, despite the sound of clanking metal that was coming from the room as well.

Entering, Hunk found Charlie, Lizz, Peter, and Ava working on something. From the looks of it, it seemed to be a bigger version of the toy car project, as he recognized the sugar cube shape.

"What do you guys got here?" Hunk still asked.

Ava signed her response.

"Space cars do sound pretty good." Hunk agreed.

"We're trying to find a good power source for it though," Lizz was looking between some little power chips.

"We heard that the chip they used for Jiro's arms didn't go too well." Peter scratched the back of his head, not seeing how Liz went wide eyed and gently set the chips down.

"That's the lightest way of putting it," Hunk tried not to think about how the heart monitor showed a flat line for a few seconds. He looked to Charlie, seeing her eyebrows furrowed.

"We were thinking you'd know what to use, you're a genius with Altean and Galra stuff," Peter continued.

"But the higher ups aren't exactly keen on letting cadets get their hands on the good tech." Lizz sighed.

Charlie made a small huffing sound.

"You okay?" Hunk asked her.

"Hm?" Charlie looked up at him. "Oh. Yes." She held her chin, eyes still focused on the sugar cube car. "Don't worry."

Lizz pulled Hunk close. "She's been trying to get Allura for a few days now, but she's always so busy."

"Princesses are pretty busy." Hunk nodded, remembering that nickname Thomas gave her. "You know," he began to say. "I heard they stored some Balmera crystals in the storerooms."

They all looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"And not to be too specific but that building is pretty empty around lunch time." Hunk continued.

"Hunk you buff and beautiful genius." Lizz clapped her hands on his shoulders. "Are you seriously suggesting we swipe such precious resources from a highly secure building?"

"No! No," Hunk had a certain tone in his voice. "Just that it'd be super easy to sneak in because they still haven't fixed that one backdoor that doesn't close all the way and can open if you jam a card or piece of paper between the door and the frame."

Lizz smiled, Peter was signing to Ava, and Charlie seemed to be taking it in.

"Hypothetically speaking." She began to say. "Would it be accurate to say that the dumpsters near that particular building would have some spare crystals that were foolishly deemed too small or not correctly shaped for use?"

"Do they?" Hunk raised an eyebrow as she reached into her pocket and produced a mishapened oval-like crystal.

Peter, Lizz, and Ava gasped in shock.

"Oh my god," Lizz moved her hands to Charlie's shoulder. "The Genius Princess does it again!"

Charlie smiled a bit, her eyes falling on Hunk.

Hunk raised his hands. "I didn't see anything."

"And dumpsters are fair game." Peter added as Ava was shaking him in disbelief.

"Is that all you needed me for?" Hunk asked, looking at the sugar cube car again.

A silence.

"Kinda." Lizz said with a sheepish smile.

"I mean we would like to not sneak around for more crystals." Peter also smiled sheepishly.

They looked to Charlie.

"Risk yields wisdom." She said with a straight face, almost mirroring the one Ryou would have when he said the same thing, usually when he mentioned his reasons for dumpster diving.

"Okay," Hunk shrugged. "Who am I say no?"

Lizz hugged him. "Hunk you're the best!"

As Hunk was making his way out, he saw what looked to be Ryou's new office and decided a peek wouldn't hurt.

Inside, he saw numerous boxes, some opened, some still closed. The opened ones seemed to be expected of Ryou, parts and tools and other odds and ends.

He noticed the shelf, and the box next to it simply labelled 'First Terms Projects'. And lining the shelf were all the little toy cars he and the class made, each with a little paper label.

Hunk smiled, seeing his project sitting up there.


	17. How To Get Out Of Trouble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to Prompt 15, "Hunk and Keith", but it didn't really feel like it was going anywhere.... until now. More space pirates! Enjoy!

"They won't send us to a death planet, he said." Keith growled as he kicked and squirmed against the restraints. "It'd be an easy mission, twenty minutes tops, he said."

"Okay okay," Hunk groaned, squirming a bit as Keith's struggling made the restraints move and tighten awkwardly. "You can kick his ass later."

Keith kept growling and trying to free at least one of his arms. "I am so telling Red to squish him!"

"No you won't." Hunk rolled his eyes.

Sure, being tied up and held up on a pole ten feet above the ground as three-foot tall lizard-like gremlins poked and prodded them wasn't an ideal situation. Sure, the jungle around them could do with less carnivorous plants and giant bugs. Sure, maybe Hunk and Keith could have agreed to let Ryou give them a hand but it was Spa Day and Ryou looked like he needed a day off.

"Just watch me!" Keith shouted and yelped as one of the lizard-gremlins poked his cheek with a spear. "Can you stop doing that!?"

The lizard-gremlin squeaked and growled and laughed an ugly barking hyena-like laugh, whacking Keith over the head with the flat side of the spear, its long tail wagging like a dog.

"Hey, um excuse me-" Hunk said looking at the lizard-gremlin and grabbing his attention. "Mr. Tiny Lizard sir, can you untie us please?"

The lizard-gremlin yapped, seemingly questioning what Hunk was saying.

"Let us go?" Hunk tried to gesture with his hands as much as he could. "Freedom? Do you have any idea what I'm saying?"

Keith spat at the lizard-gremlin as it seemed to be thinking, making it mad enough to whack him a few more times.

"Ow! O-I'm going to turn you into crocs! OW!" Keith threatened between yelps.

Another lizard-gremlin whacked the first lizard-gremlin and the two yapped and barked at each other, seemingly arguing while the second one pointed back to their settlement. It pushed and whacked the first one until it relented and scurried away.

The second lizard-gremlin seemed to be a bit bigger than the first one, from its general build to the thick pointed horns on its head, and had a scar over the top of its snout, reaching down to its chin, and whatever it was had seemingly knocked loose one of its fangs from its underbite. It was dark green, almost black, and its scales shimmered in what little sun reached through the thick canopy overhead.

It snorted at them and took position, yellow eyes focused on its surrounds and ears perked up in attention.

"What the hell just happened?" Keith whispered to Hunk.

"Pecking order." Hunk whispered back a bit too loudly for the Badass Lizard Gremlin's liking as it yapped at them with a low warning bark.

"Woof!" Keith tried to mimic the bark in a more intimidating way.

And Hunk swore the Badass Lizard Gremlin smirked at him and turned its attention away.

"Did you-!?" Keith growled. "That's it! They're all becoming boots!"

"Can't you call your bayard or something?" Hunk shrugged. The lizard gremlins had caught them at their most paranoid and took their bayards from them, still remembering one their disappointed looks when the big laser gun turned into a small useless thing as soon it left Hunk's hand.

"I'm trying." Keith squirmed again.

Badass Lizard Gremlin barked at Keith.

"Oh you hush up!" Keith reached his hand out to the general direction he figured the bayard to be, groaning in concentration.

While Keith was trying to get them free, Hunk looked at the Badass Lizard Gremlin and hatched a plan that he hoped would work.

"Psst." Hunk hissed. "Psst! Hey!" He whispered yelled at it. "Don't ignore me! I know you can hear me." Sure enough, its tail twitched as Hunk spoke. "You probably can't understand me but I have a deal for you."

One of those words got his attention as it looked back at Hunk with its shiny greenish-yellow eyes.

"Yeah, deal." Hunk nodded. "I-" he pointed to himself. "Can get you food." He tried to gesture, half-acknowledging that he may actually be signing. "But you have to let us free. Okay?"

Badass Lizard Gremlin looked Hunk up and down, snorted, and looked away.

"Keith?" Hunk looked over his shoulder, seeing Keith was still focusing a bit too much on calling back his bayard. "Dude, look. My friend here is gonna give you the big ouch if you don't let us go."

Hunk vaguely recognized the sound of a whoosh whizzing by as the restraints suddenly became loose.

"COME HERE!" Keith landed on his feet a bit less than gracefully and lunged at Badass Lizard Gremlin.

"Keith! Wait wait wait!" Hunk held him back, trying not to get hit with the bayard.

Badass Lizard Gremlin barked loudly at Keith.

"Oh go fu-!" Keith's voice became muffled as Hunk covered his mouth.

"Hey-!" Hunk smiled sheepishly at the Gremlin. "So, um, we were sent by the Association-" he began to say, noting how that word got some recognition. "And we were wondering if you'd like to hear about the Voltron Coalition-"

Badass Lizard Gremlin narrowed his eyes but lowered the spear.

"And lend aid to stopping the Galra Empire?" Hunk kept smiling, seeing the confusion on the Gremlin's face.

It looked at him suspiciously, especially with the way Keith glared back.

Hunk thought about it and looked back at the Gremlin.

"Food?"

The Gremlin's ears perked up again.

Keith slapped away Hunk's hand and glared at him. "Are you sure about this?"

"Companion is spelled with bread," Hunk shrugged. "If they agree to food, we can probably get them to at least like us."

Keith was still unsure but put away his bayard. "Fine."

Badass Lizard Gremlin softened up a bit and barked again to something behind the Paladins.

Turns out, shouting and yelling and having one of the bayards whizz by was cause for concern among the lizard gremlins.

Eventually, through a complex game of charades and some attempts at finding a translator, Hunk did manage to make a hearty stew with some ingredients both provided by the gremlins and foraged from the nearby jungle.

When they were finally done with negotiations, their handler, a large reptilian named Havlar, came back with a rather pissed off Ryou, who was hitching a ride in the Red Lion.

"You sent them to a death planet?" Ryou yelled at Havlar as they made their way to the little settlement.

"The Bo-Kols would not have harmed them." Havlar snorted and seemed to smirk. "At best, they would have been laborers."

"And worst?" Keith growled, looking between Ryou and Havlar as if trying to decide who to be more mad at.

"OW!" Hunk yelped as he felt something bite his ankle. A smaller lizard gremlin had tried to nip at his legs. "I think we were gonna be food."

Badass Lizard Gremlin whacked Havlar, barking at him, pointing to Hunk, and barking some more.

"Come on guys," Ryou wrapped his arms around Keith and Hunk and led them away. "I think we all need a break now."

"Any idea what they're saying?" Keith jerked his chin over to Havlar, who seemed to still be getting quite the lecture from Badass Lizard Gremlin.

"No idea let's keep moving." Ryou said in a rush as he pushed them towards the Red Lion, whose mere presence seemed to make Keith feel better.

Back at the Castle, Hunk and Keith were enjoying some well-earned relaxation time.

"Hey Hunk." Keith said as he laid on his back on the couch.

"Yeah?" Hunk asked, looking through some think book.

"No more missions with the PTA." Keith groaned. "They suck."

"They're pirates of course they suck." Hunk agreed. "How they banded together to make one of the largest anti-Galra organizations that's still alive is beyond me."

"I think it's by sending newbie suckers like us to deal with little nuisances like the Bo-Kols." Keith replied.

"Probably." Hunk sighed.

Negotiations were always pretty tense, but at least Allura had the political know-how to keep things under control. Aliens like the Bo-Kols weren't usually on Voltron's radar though, seeing as how they weren't exactly the most technologically advanced species in their star system.

At the very least, his food once again proved to be an effective bridge between worlds.

"Oh and Havlar sucks too." Keith said suddenly.

"Big time." Hunk agreed.


	18. Milk And Cookies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a tumblr blog called "bland voltron headcanons". I used to visit it a lot and saw a few that alluded to Alteans being a herbivore/vegetarian/vegan species. Something about how Allura and Coran were a bit shocked that humans were omnivores because apparently Galra eat meat too. Since then I always sorta pictured Alteans as vegetarian/vegan(which just sparked a new Batganes ideas haha).
> 
> Anyways, enjoy Hunk and Allura bonding!

Allura was acting weird. Weirder than usual.

From the looks of it, her appetite when it came to anything with dairy seemed to completely disappear. Anything else, including things that she didn't know to contain milk, was completely fine unless she was told otherwise.

"Aw come on Allura, you said you wanted to try them!" Pidge had two glasses of milk and a big plate full of peanut butter cookies.

"I know-" Allura seemed to literally be turning green. "I....changed my mind!"

Pidge raised an eyebrow. "Did Ryou make weird cookies?"

"...Yes." Allura said with a strained but straight face after a suspiciously long pause.

"That son of a quiznack," Pidge put down the cookies and milk on the counter. "RYOU!" She disappeared, possibly to start a meaningless war with Ryou over cookies that may or may not have ever existed.

Hunk, sensing there was something going on, decided to try something while Shiro, Ryou, and Jiro were out on their clone fetch quest.

He made a few cookies, using various milk substitutes, including any he could find from the new alien vendors in the city nearby.

"Alright," Hunk said to himself as he laid them out. "Time to test this theory."

Around this time of day, Allura was most likely to be found in the indoor garden, admiring the Earth flowers and helping cultivate new juniberry plants.

"Hey Allura," Hunk put on his best smile. "How are the flowers doing?"

"They're doing well," Allura smiled brightly at the little sprouts growing from the little pots.

Hunk was about to continue when he saw a certain look in her eyes.

"You okay?" He asked, setting the test cookies down.

Her shoulders drooped a bit.

He put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, it's okay. The paperwork isn't going to come alive and attack you." He tried to smile and joke, and his efforts weren't entirely worthless. She did crack a small and giggle just a tiny bit.

"I know, I know." Allura sighed. "And..." her smile fell. "I know it's silly to be so emotional over such a small thing but... these flowers hadn't existed for over ten thousand years. And I know there's hundreds more on Alte-" she paused. "New Altea," she corrected herself.

Hunk tried not to visibly wince at that.

"But...the last time I saw these..." Allura gently brushed her finger over the little plants, her eyes deep and dark with sorrow. "It was before..."

Hunk was about to pull her into a hug before she took a deep breath and straightened out her posture.

"But there's no use dwelling on the past." She rubbed her eyes, and Hunk could see a few tears managed to escape. "The time is now and now is the time to rebuild all that Zarkon and Honerva destroyed."

"Allura," Hunk said gently. "You don't have to move on so fast like that."

"My people need me-" Allura tried to argue.

"You need yourself more." Hunk felt Yellow backing him up. "You can still be the badass warrior who saved the universe and the vulnerable heartbroken girl at the same time. Don't bottle up your emotions. Trust me, they just get worse if you do. Speaking partially from experience and watching Shiro have a meltdown over mac and cheese at three in the morning."

Allura raised an eyebrow at that.

"Yeah it's not pretty." Hunk cringed, remembering it at the first time he saw Shiro look so weak and, as harsh as it may sound, pathetic. "Crying is good, it's a good catharsis. Really helps release all that tension."

From the look on Allura's ever expressive face, she was thinking about it.

"I mean, you saw it too, right?" Hunk continued. "The way Shiro seemed to loosen up when Ryou joined the team?"

"Along with the odd languages," Allura shrugged. "Still trying to figure out what 'oogie' means. But yes, he did seem less-" she looked at the flowers. "Tense."

"Because he finally had someone he can be vulnerable around." Hunk wouldn't say it out loud but he felt that Voltron was being held back by Shiro insisting he was fine even on the days when it was clear that he wasn't. "You can show your emotions around us Allura, we'll help you pick up the pieces."

Allura smiled and gave Hunk a hug.

It felt nice...

Until she squeezed a bit too much and picked him up a good two feet off the ground.

"Allura-" Hunk wheezed.

"Hm?" Allura hummed contently.

"You can put me down now." Hunk could feel something in his back cracking in a way it wasn't meant to be cracked.

"Oh." Allura gently let go. "Sorry."

"It's fine." Hunk glanced at the flower bed and noticed the tupperware full of cookies. "Oh! I almost forgot."

Allura's mood did a one-eighty at the sight of them. "More sweets?"

"Yeah!" Hunk smiled. "I know you have an aversion to milk now, for some weird reason-" he muttered the last part to himself. "So I made some vegan cookies for you to try and enjoy."

"Vegan?" Alura asked as she looked at the cookies, now suspicious of the cookies.

"Yeah, some humans have food allergies, meaning they can't eat certain foods or they'll die," Hunk began to explain. "And some humans are-" he paused. "Passionate, about the well-being of all animals and decide to not eat any animal-based foods or buy animal based products."

"Shouldn't all humans care about where their food comes from?" Allura asked.

"That's a discussion for another day," Hunk replied. "For now, I'd like to know which of these milk substitutes you like best."

Hunk opened up the tupperware and the aroma of fresh-baked cookies was released.

"We got cococnut milk, almond milk, oat milk, soy milk, rice milk, yeast milk-which was by far the hardest to get because Kinkade would just not shut up about yeast-" Hunk explained, listing and pointing them out from left to right.

"And none of these are made with milkshake-maker milk?" Allura asked again, narrowing her eyes.

"For the last time, they're called cows and yes." Hunk nodded. "No cow milk, or any other animal product, has touched these cookies."

Allura grabbed one cookie, one of the almond milk ones, and took a bite.

Her eyes lit up and she began to make those cute squeaking sounds as the mice each took a little crumb for themselves, also squeaking in joy.

"These are amazing!" Allura smiled and grabbed another.

"Glad to hear you like them." Hunk smiled back.

The two of them took a little stroll through the garden, sharing more cookies and small talk when Hunk remembered something.

"Oh, did Ryou actually make you cookies once?" Hunk found it hard to believe that Ryou would make food and not share with everyone.

"Hm?" Allura was finishing the coconut milk cookies.

"You told Pidge that Ryou made some bad cookies once," Hunk explained.

"Oh," Allura made that sheepish sort of smile. "Well...."

Hunk might have been making a face since she sighed.

"No. Well, yes, but the cookies weren't awful." Allura fiddling with her hair. "Lance showed us how milk was collected from Kaltenecker and let's just say Coran and I were..." she shuddered at the memory. "Less than impressed."

"Lance said you two looked like you saw a ghost." Hunk raised an eyebrow.

"How was I supposed to know humans drink the waste of other animals?" Allura yelled in defense.

"Okay first of all," Hunk held up a finger. "Milk is not a waste product. Second of all, humans eat way crazier stuff than you think."

"Do I even want to know?" Allura sighed.

"Probably not." Hunk shrugged, a few things coming to mind like honey technically being bee vomit and haggis being sheep innards.

Allura stood and dusted off her skirt. "Well I'm expecting a call from Shiro, hopefully they haven't gotten into any too much trouble."

Hunk, intentionally this time, gave her a look.

"You know what I mean." Allura gave a look back. "Thank you for our talk, Hunk. And the cookies," she smiled.

"Anytime Princess," Hunk smiled. "Or is it going to be Your Majesty soon?"

Allura got that sheepish smile again. "Well the paperwork isn't going to do itself! See you later Hunk!"

She ran off, her hair being the last thing he saw as she disappeared among the trees and hedges and such. Hunk shook his head and sighed, glad to know he made her happy if only for a short moment.


	19. Petsitting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really read comics I just watch/read analysis/summary videos but my memory is still pretty bad so I forget details like Damian having a giant dragon bat as a pet. Enjoy Hunk having to watch over said giant dragon bat!

Hunk didn't know exactly what he was expecting when he promised to watch Damian's pets for the day.

There was Alfred the Cat, Titus, and Batcow, alongside Kaltenecker who was only at the Batcave until the Justice League could either find her original home or a new one under their careful watch.

Those were the pets he knew of and was expecting to watch.

Not a giant red...creature...monster? It looked like something Constantine, a magically inclined ally of Batman, should be dealing with.

It was big, it's torso and each individual limb-including the tail-was as thick as Hunk's own body, not to mention the giant wings.

"Don't look him in the eye. He takes it as a challenge." Damian said as Hunk realized he was in fact dangerously close to looking Goliath in those glaring yellow eyes while he was focusing on the giant teeth.

"Right." Hunk looked down to see Alfred the Cat and Titus looking incredibly relaxed and calm around the beast. "So... do I have to take him out for a walk like Titus?"

"And Alfred the Cat." Damian corrected.

"Uh-huh." Hunk now thought that walking a cat was the least weirdest thing he'd have to do today.

"Breakfast is at eight thirty sharp." Damian continued, his voice having an authority that Hunk didn't question. "No sooner, no later. Alfred the Cat will bite you if you are so much as a second late in preparing his food."

"Doesn't Alfred the Human usually help?" Hunk asked as he saw the bat colony up above skittering to and fro.

"Pennyworth will be running errands today. Which is why I asked you to help care for my animal companions." Damian explained. "After breakfast, you may have one hour of leisurely time before you have to take both Titus and Alfred the Cat out for-" he glanced at the two and leaned in close to Hunk, signing the word for walk.

Hunk nodded. "Right. And Goliath-" he looked up and quickly tried not to make eye contact.

"Goliath will be asleep until two o'five, just in time for post-"Damian signed 'walk' again. "Lunch and play time. Their claws need clipping today, so I suggest using the industrial strength protective gloves in the broom closet next to Grayson's room."

Looking at the claws on Goliath, Hunk gulped. "Broom closet next to Dick's room. Right."

"Kent and I are planning to watch a movie after school today, so expect my return at six thirty. By which time, you may ask Pennyworth for any assistance." Damian patted Goliath on the head. "I trust you can stick to the schedule I provided you?"

Hunk held up his phone, which displayed the aforementioned schedule. "Yep! I got it. One question though," he scrolled through the schedule. "For the three o'clock block, are you sure Batcow and Kaltenecker should be sharing food?"

"I've made sure they are both getting their required nutrients and that Kaltenecker is smoothly transitioning from extraterrestial feed to something more suitable for her species." Damian said with a hint of pride.

"Got it." Hunk flashed a thumbs up. "Have fun Dami!"

Damian's eyebrow twitched at the nickname but he left without so much as a word about. He did coddle Goliath, Alfred the Cat, and Titus one last time, who all looked to Hunk as soon as their little grumpy human master left the room.

"So...." Hunk looked at his watch, seeing it was barely seven fifty. "I guess it's just you and me now, huh?"

Alfred the Cat growled a little, meowing lowly.

Mouthy brat.

Hunk sighed. "Yellow, chill." He looked at Goliath again. "Also please give me strength today."

Granted.

The quote-unquote normal pets were doing just fine on their own. Alfred the Cat seemed to be distant, but Hunk chalked it up to him sensing the Yellow Lion. Titus followed Hunk around like a duckling, following each command without so much as a questioning tilt of the head.

Goliath....

Well, he occasionally butted his head on Hunk, purring loudly.

Especially during and after breakfast.

"Okay guys," Hunk held up a couple of leashes and harnesses. "Who's ready for walkies?"

Titus barked, tapping his toes excitedly. Alfred the Cat seemed to have loosen up and was batting at the leash.

Goliath, according to the schedule, was fast asleep.

Nothing particularly exciting happened during the walk. The Wayne Estate had quite some land to it, making Hunk think that the leashes were a bit redundant until Alfred the Cat tried to rush off into the nearby woods.

Lunch was better, Goliath content with being a scratching post for both Alfred the Cat and both bovines.

"You're just a big softy, aren't you Goliath?" Hunk patted Goliath's head, a little surprised to see the big red dragon bat push into the touch. "Yeah, just like Yellow."

Play time, as dictated by the schedule, was more like training. Titus had an obstacle course, a 'rigorous' game of fetch, and a few laps in the indoor pool to run. Alfred the Cat, meanwhile, was more of a laser pointer on the wall kind of cat, which Hunk was relieved to see.

Goliath, meanwhile, seemed to think that chasing around the Batcave's personal bat colony was the bee's knees. He'd clap his giant paws-hands?-around some of them, surprisingly gentle as he released them without any harm. Minus, some distress, of course.

Titus was the easiest set of claws to trim. An absolute angel, to be more precise.

Alfred the Cat was finicky, and Hunk used the good old fashion Cat Burrito method to get the little hissing menace to keep still.

Goliath on the other hand...

"Five thirty," Hunk said as the pets were winding down. "One hour until Damian gets home." He looked at Goliath's claws, noting they were still pretty sharp. "Alfred." He called. "Alfred!"

With the appropriate tools in their gloved hands, Alfred and Hunk looked to the sleeping dragon bat.

"I'm surprised you do this all the time without breaking a sweat," Hunk said as he moved towards the twitching hind legs. "Guess you just get used to it."

"Trust me Young Master Hunk," Alfred prepared one of the claws on Goliath's front paw. "You get used to a lot of things around here."

"Ditto when it comes to space." Hunk tried to smile but felt dread in his stomach.

Be strong, Paladin.

The Yellow Lion encouraged him.

Easy for you to say big guy, Hunk thought to himself. You don't need a trim.

After much struggling and trying not to get kicked in the face by Goliath's massive feet, all of the pet watching duties were done and with ten minutes to spare.

"You should get some rest," Alfred cleaned up the trimmings. "You've definitely earned it."

"Thanks Alfred," Hunk let out a sigh of relief, settling into the couch in the den and feeling all of his tension melting away. "Man rich people can definitely afford the good stuff."

Not even a minute later, he felt a big wet tongue lap at his face.

"Titus no." Hunk, eyes still closed, pushed away the muzzle that was poking him.

Another lick, followed by a deep grunt.

"Titus you already went for walkies and had play time," Hunk whined, pushing the face away again.

A third lick, followed by a big weight on his leg that shook him.

Hunk's eyes shot open.

Titus was a big dog. Big, heavy, and could probably push down a grown man if he bolted at full speed. But that paw was far too big to be Titus and was way too heavy to be Alfred the Cat. He knew it couldn't be either Batcow or Kaltenecker either seeing as how the two of them were down in the Batcave.

He looked and saw that it was in fact Goliath who was pestering him for attention. A big goofy, slobbering grin on his face as he sat and bounced on his haunches.

Hunk sighed. "Hi Goliath."

Goliath made a grunting-barking sound.

"Damian's gonna be home soon." Hunk patted Goliath's face, still surprised at how soft the dragon bat's fur was.

Goliath picked up something and dropped it on Hunk, which turned out to be a battered but still inflated football.

"Play time?" Hunk asked, seeing Goliath's, honestly adorable, cat-like ears shoot up. "Alright alright, five minutes."

Out back, away from any possible prying eyes looking to catch the latest gossip on the Waynes in the privacy of their own home, Hunk spent way more than five minutes tossing the football as far as he could and watch as Goliath would either fly up or charge towards it.

"Having fun?" Hunk asked as he threw the ball again, holding his shoulder afterwards. "Geez my arm is killing me."

"It's because you're throwing it wrong." Damian suddenly appeared next to him, causing Hunk to shriek in surprise.

"Oh-!" Hunk calmed down. "You're home. How was the movie?"

"Don't patronize me." Damian huffed. "But if you must know, it was fun, despite being predictable and washed down with unnecessary musical numbers. Thank you for taking care of things while I was away. I can see why Shi-" he paused. "Why Ryou puts a lot of trust in you."

"Aww," Hunk pulled Damian in for a hug, not minding the growl. "Thanks Dami."


	20. Between Us

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Context: headspacedad.tumblr.com/post/166712097677/little-lion-red
> 
> Hunk and Keith again, because some of these prompts really make me question how much I missed/forgot about this show. Enjoy!

"Nonononono-" Keith seemed to be panicking as he looked through the piles of scraps in Ryou's workroom, still in his Blade uniform. "Come on come on. It has to be here somewhere."

Hunk looked at him, eyebrow raised. Taking a glance at Ryou, who was passed out in the makeshift slab of metal and blankets he called a bed, he figured it wouldn't hurt to ask what was up.

"Keith?" Hunk's voice surprised Keith. "You okay?"

"Huh?" Keith tried to play it cool. "Um. Yes. Just-" He looked at the piles of scrap again. "Looking for something."

"I can help you find it-" Hunk began to say.

"No-!" Keith's eyes went wide.

That made Hunk stop. Usually Keith was pretty chill, only getting riled up when Lance or Ryou were getting too much for him but even then it was never at this level.

"I mean-" Keith backed off. "I can look for it myself."

With that, Keith slinked off behind another junk pile, swearing under his breath. Hunk was about to think nothing of it when he remembered another time Keith had acted that weirdly.

When Hunk opened one of his presents, he was surprised to see a dog plushie. Well, an alien dog with four eyes, green fur, and two little antennae, but a dog nonetheless. Hunk, for a split second, had seen Keith's eyes widen ever so slightly at it before he glanced at Ryou, clenched his hands a bit, and tried to play it off.

At first, Hunk was willing to believe it was Keith being Keith, not asking for anything but it was painfully obvious when he did, and at that moment it seemed he wanted something.

"Wait here sleeping beauty," Hunk whispered to a sleeping Ryou, who made no indication he could hear anything outside of his dreams.

Quietly, he got up and sneaked around to one of the junk piles. He peeked around the corner, seeing Keith once again looking through the scraps like a mad man.

"I know I left it in the Castle," Keith talking to himself as he continued his search. "I swear if Lance touched it-" he continued grumbling.

Hunk slinked back behind the scrap pile and towards where he left a still sleeping Ryou.

"Psst, Ryou." Hunk whispered. "Psssst! Ryou."

Ryou's eyebrows twitched.

Hearing Keith's footsteps wander from one pile to the other, Hunk sighed and leaned in a bit closer to Ryou's ear.

"Professor-" He whispered, backing away slightly as Ryou shot up.

"Hm?" Ryou grunted, eyes still closed and obviously a bit dazed.

"You know how you got me a stuffed animal for my birthday?" Hunk whispered, trying not to alert Keith.

"Mm." Ryou half-nodded in response, swaying a bit as he tried to decide whether to stay awake or go back to sleep.

"Did you get Keith one too?" Hunk asked.

"Mmm..." Ryou hummed and yawned. "Mm-hm."

"I knew it," Hunk said under his breath. "What was it? A cat? Fox? One of those squeaky lizard toys?"

"Mmmm...." Ryou groaned, seemingly annoyed. "mmm-po."

"What?" Hunk asked again.

"Hi-mmm-o." Ryou said again as he went back under the blankets and turned away.

Hunk's eyes darted back and forth as he tried to make sense of the sleepy gibberish.

"Come on, where are you?" Keith's voice was closer, he sounded desperate.

"Hi-" Hunk tried half-gesturing half-signing. "Po. Hi-po. Hippo?" Hunk raised an eyebrow. "Why would-" he looked to where Ryou kept extra pillows and blankets, noticing an exceptionally round pillow barely hidden by the blue fabrics.

Slowly and carefully, he pulled it out and saw it was a a hippo plushie, slightly dirty from dust and a bit worn from a few cycles in the washing machine but otherwise fluffy and soft and practically still new.

"Keith likes this?" Hunk asked himself as he heard a small gasp and the squeak of a boot.

Sure enough, there stood Keith, eyes as wide as saucers and looking between Hunk and the hippo toy. His hands clenched ever so slightly, as if he was trying to grab something.

"Why does Ryou have that?" Keith asked.

Hunk blinked. "Why indeed." He handed it to Keith with a smile. "It belongs to you."

Keith's cheeks gained the tiniest hint of pink as he reached out and held the hippo in his arms. In that moment, his tenseness melted away and he smiled. He looked up to see Hunk's growing grin and he turned away, clutching the hippo tighter.

"Thanks." Keith muttered.

"No problem." Hunk patted Keith's shoulder. "So, hippos huh? Thought you'd be more into cats or something."

Keith glared at him and pouted but sighed. "I had a hippo toy when I was little." He explained. "It... got lost."

"Hey you don't have to tell me your life story," Hunk gave Keith a quick hug. "And I promise not to tell Lance if you do."

That put another smile on Keith's face. "Thanks Hunk." He looked back down at the hippo toy and frowned.

Hunk tried not to sigh. "What's wrong now?"

With his shoulders drooping, Keith handed the hippo back to Hunk. "I can't take it back with me."

"What?" Hunk asked.

"No personal items." Keith sighed, the words almost robotic as they left his mouth as if this wasn't the first or last time he'd be saying them. "I just wanted to make sure P-" he paused, his cheeks getting a pinkish-red tint again. "That it was okay."

"Well if Ryou had it I think it's in pretty safe hands." Hunk shrugged. "You sure you don't want to take it with you?

Keith shook his head. "I don't want to lose this one." He booped its nose and smiled.

"Well I mean-" Hunk looked back to Ryou. "I wasn't that busy."

That made Keith raise an eyebrow.

"And you don't have to go back yet, do you?" Hunk asked.

Keith glanced at Ryou, seeing he was asleep.

"No." Keith replied.

"I can go grab Mars and we can hang out, just the four of us." Hunk said with a smile.

"Aren't we a bit too old to play pretend?" Keith's eyes gained a sharpness to them, as if he was trying not to glare but still wanted to convey that he wasn't in a particularly good mood.

"Oh come on," Hunk lightly tossed the hippo toy into the air and caught it. "Not like they'll repeat anything we say around them."

"Have you not seen Toy Story? Or the one with the killer doll?" Keith asked.

"Hey the killer doll was being possessed with evil magic!" Hunk corrected, shutting himself up when he raised his voice. "Like I said, just the four of us. Ryou's out like a light."

Looking between Hunk, the hippo, and where Ryou was still sleeping, Keith sighed.

"Alright." Keith agreed. "Just for a few minutes."

Hunk handed back the hippo. "What's his name by the way?"

Keith looked down. "Promise not to tell?"

"Promise." Hunk said.

"No, really. Promise me you won't tell." Keith had a serious look on his face.

"I will pinky promise that." Hunk held out his pinky finger.

That sufficed, as Keith accepted the gesture.

"Her name is Pepper." Keith said. "Pepper Potamus the Second."

Hunk nearly squealed in delight. "That is so adorable."

Keith growled a bit. "No telling."

Hunk nodded, not even worrying about the no secrets between Paladins rule. "No telling."


	21. Foundations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *looks at Light Catcher*......*looks at the Batganes related chapters*........*shrugs* Enjoy!

Hunk walked through Wayne Manor, still taking in the fact the Justice League was now helping fight against the Galra. Pidge and Lance were downstairs in the Batcave with Tim, getting their cover stories ironed out. Made sense, considering how they just up and disappeared literally off the face of the Earth.

Using Ryou's various diagrams and stories as reference, Hunk found himself near Bruce's study, which had its door slightly ajar.

Peeking in, Hunk could see Shiro looking through the bookshelves in a peculiar way.

He wasn't trying to pick out a book, that became obvious. More so, it seemed he just wanted to touch the books. To feel them under his fingers, probably counting how many there were and paying a lot of attention to the material each of them were made from.

"Yes?" Shiro nodded his head to the door, eyes still on the books.

"Oh sh-" Hunk hissed in surprised. Should have known that a Bat would have a lot of spatial awareness. "Hey, Shiro." He walked into the study, seeing that it was just Shiro in the room.

"Hey Hunk." Shiro looked at him and Hunk swore he looked ten years older. "Need anything?"

"No." The bags under Shiro's eyes had bags, he looked pale, and Hunk may have been seeing things but it seemed he had more white hair now. "Just exploring."

"Hm." Shiro hummed. "There's a lot of little secrets in this house. There's a chest in the hallway back there with a false back, right in front of a hidden crawl space." Shiro smiled a little. "Ryou loved hiding there. He would crawl in there and come out the other end of the house in about a minute." He laughed, tired and hollow.

Hunk laughed too, awkwardly but trying to keep face.

Shiro's smile fell. "Always getting into trouble." His voice sounded so close to breaking.

Hesitating, but feeling a push from the Yellow Lion, Hunk stepped forward and put a hand on Shiro's shoulder. "We'll find him. Wherever he is, we'll find him."

Under Hunk's hand, Shiro just melted. He would have fell onto his knees then and there if Hunk didn't direct him to a nearby chair.

"I just-" a couple of tears ran down Shiro's face. "I don't want him out there all alone."

"I know." Hunk sighed. "I know how much you want to go find him."

Shiro shuddered, trying to keep whatever little composure he had left.

Hunk pulled Shiro in for a hug. He could count how many times Shiro felt this small and fragile on one hand, and this was now one of them.

When Ryou left the Garrison, at first on leave, Hunk was but one of many holding out hope that he would come back. They even encouraged his seemingly temporary absence, noticing just how unnaturally robotic their usually unpredictable teacher was acting.

They waited for days, which turned into weeks, which became a few months, until eventually the dreaded announcement came.

Ryou wouldn't be coming back.

The class became a shell of its former self. They couldn't tell him just how much he meant to them, how he was more than a teacher, how they would have been by his side if he came back. The gift basket they made him felt cheap, and there wasn't enough cards or paper for them to write how they felt.

But Ryou wasn't here.

As much as Hunk and the Bat family wished he was, Ryou wasn't here to get a shoulder to lean on, Shiro was. And no way in hell was Hunk letting Shiro get sucked into despair.

Foundations.

The Yellow Lion said.

Air without earth is empty. Earth without air is suffocating.

"Take all the time you need," Hunk said sadly, feeling Shiro shaking in his arms. "I got you."

There was the tiniest of squeaks by the door, as if someone was stepping close and trying to be as quiet as possible.

Shiro shot up, sniffling and wiping his face. "Yeah?" His voice was scratchy, and even the average Joe on the street would be able to tell he'd been crying.

"Is this a bad time?" Duke, Batman's newest recruit and member of the family, was at the door.

"No." Shiro said.

"Kinda." Hunk said at the same time.

Duke's face was a perfect mix of confusion and panic. "Right. Um, Tim said he needed some help down in the cave. Lance and Pidge are kinda making a mess and-"

"I'll handle it." Shiro stood. "Thanks Hunk." Shiro patted Hunk's shoulder somewhat awkwardly.

"Cool." Duke did a shaky thumbs up. "I'll be...not here." He scurried away, muttering something about how crazy the family was.

"You coming Hunk?" Shiro asked, his eyes just a little bit brighter, partly because of his recent crying but Hunk wanted to believe he felt a bit better.

"In a bit. I'm going to try and get Alfred to spill some secret recipes." Hunk shrugged and smiled.

Shiro laughed, genuinely and whole-heartedly. "Good luck with that. Alfred doesn't subscribe to the no kill rule by the way."

"Dark but I get the joke." Hunk winked and flashed finger guns. "Hey can you make my cover story the coolest one?"

"I only promise to try." Shiro smiled as he disappeared down a hallway.

Hunk smiled and shook his head, making his way to another part of the Manor. "What am I going to do with these two?"

"I'm surprised you can deal with one." Duke's voice surprised him.

After shrieking, Hunk was surprised again by the fact Duke, who was only supposed to be a year or two younger than Hunk, seemed... too young.

"Well, the other one was my teacher." Hunk shrugged.

"That explains Ryou's teaching method back during Robin School." Duke held his chin.

"Wait there was a Robin School?" Hunk asked. He knew Batman went through a few Robins but to make a school for it seemed over the top, even for a man who dressed up in spandex to fight crime.

"Unofficially." Duke explained. "A bunch of us kids decided to be Robins all on our own, and then the real-" Duke used air quotes. "Robin decided to teach us so called fakers a thing or two."

"Wait but Ryou said he never was a Robin." Hunk remembered that conversation vividly. He had hit Jason, the second Robin, in the face just a few moments before that topic came up.

"Yeah, he but he was-well, is Steelwing," Duke scratched the back of his head. "Close enough don't you think?" He smiled.

"Hmm." Hunk held his chin as well. "Yeah. Guess you're right."

And then came the awkward silence.

"Um," Duke's eyes were looking around as if he was literally trying to find something to talk about.

Hunk clicked his tongue and tried to be interested in the paintings on the walls.

"Is Takashi gonna be okay?" Duke asked.

"Huh?" Hunk looked at him.

"Takashi." Duke repeated. "Is he gonna be alright? Besides the whole thing with Ryou being missing, it looks likes somethings eating at him."

Hunk didn't know how much to say. Sure, he could easily just tell Duke that Shiro was forced to fight death matches when he was a slave to the Galra and barely escaped in one piece-actually. He didn't escape in one piece. He came back with a prosthetic arm, and goodness knows what sort of horrible thing happened to him to warrant amputation.

"I-" Hunk sighed. "I don't know. We got a lot on our plate. And he's been through a lot, more than us. By that I mean the other Paladins of Voltron."

"Which reminds me," Duke had a shine in his eyes. "Do you guys really have giant robot lions?"

"Yep." Hunk said with no hesitation. "I fly the yellow one."

"No way." Duke was in disbelief. "No freaking way. Giant robot cats? Seriously?"

Hunk nodded.

"Like-tails and ears and everything?" Duke asked again.

"And wings, in Shiro's case." Hunk said proudly.

"Okay now you're just messing with me." Duke smiled as the two began meandering around, sorta kinda making their way to the cave as nothing much else was going on.

"I mean we have video footage of them." Hunk smiled.

"Fake!" Duke howled a bit. "Photoshop. Video editing. Just tell me that the Alteans were just kinda creative with the way they named battle ships."

"No, seriously. They're giant colorful lions. I pilot the yellow one-" Hunk began to explain. "Pidge pilots the green one, Shiro piloted the black one until he disappeared and left Keith in charge for some reason-"

"Hey!" Keith shouted from his seat by the Batcomputer, somewhat offended.

"Come on man, stop playing." Duke laughed. "Next thing you're gonna tell me is that they minds of their own."He continued to laugh for a bit, stopping when he saw Hunk's smirk. "No way-"

"Yep." Hunk nodded, seeing Shiro smiling and shaking his head in the corner of his eye.


	22. Stand Strong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm looking at the title and am so close to making a JJBA reference
> 
> The elemental paladins idea is something I can't really take credit for but I will cite GriffonRose's "The Black Paladin" series as inspiration. Good stuff, loved it when Shiro had to be a dishwasher.

How did it end up like this?

There was a flash of light.

A loud boom.

An intense sense of dread.

Shaking.

Falling.

His breath getting caught in his throat and getting knocked out of his lungs.

A scream-

"Watch out!" Shrill, scared. Pidge?

"What the hell was that?" Angry. Growling. Definitely Keith.

"Stick together!" Commanding but desperate. Shiro.

Pain.

Burning pain everywhere.

Aching muscles.

Pins and needles in his bones.

The warm blood running down his forehead, right into his eye.

"Guys?" Hunk called out.

Silence all around him, minus the ringing in his ears.

"Guys!" Hunk called out again.

A grunt, off to his left somewhere.

"-ere," weak and wheezing.

Hunk managed to get to his feet. "I'm coming-!" He groaned as pain shot through his body. "I got you!"

The voice was Lance, who had managed to avoid the brunt of the cave in-be it sabotage or not-by holding up his shield, though he still had some injuries-

From battle.

Ah, Hunk remembered, feeling Yellow's calming presence. They had been tracking down some so called traitors, labeled so by Havlar who was either pissed that members of his crew were working with the Galra Empire or that he was forced to call the Paladins for assistance.

Either way, they were in a tough spot now.

"I got you Lance," Hunk helped move some rocks so that Lance could lower his shield without worry of getting crushed. "You okay?"

"Could be better." Lance coughed. "Let's find the others." He tried to stand but stumbled.

"Easy easy-!" Hunk looked down to see that the white of Lance's boot was now red. "Don't strain yourself."

A deep and rumbling roar caught their attention.

From an nearby pile of rubble, a clawed reptilian hand shot up. Havlar, slightly scratched and bruise but even more enraged than before, pulled himself out, clinging to something smaller with his other arm.

"Those cowards!" Havlar growled. "Face us like warriors!" He shouted to the vague direction that his former comrades ran off to.

"Hey this whole thing was your idea!" Hunk said as he, begrudgingly, helped Havlar out of the rubble, noticing that the smaller body he was holding onto was Pidge.

"Ugh." Pidge shook off some dirt, still otherwise okay. Other than Shiro, she was the least injured from their hit-and-run attacks earlier. "Anyone else's ears still ringing?"

"Yep." Lance took off his helmet and ran a hand through his sweaty hair, hitting his ear as if he just came out a pool and was trying to clear out the water. "Didn't take you for a softy Havlar."

Havlar shot a glare at Lance. "Red Paladin! Black Paladin! Sound off!"

Silence.

"Yellow?" Hunk whispered, feeling his Lion's presence hovering over him.

Weak, but alive.

"Alive, that's good." Hunk looked around, trying to find any sign of Keith and/or Shiro trying to free themselves from the rubble. "Keith? Shiro?"

Pidge began to move some rocks. "They were right here!"

"Paladins!" Havlar called out again, moving whole boulders. "I swear to the Great Serpent Zalcoatal you better be alive!"

Hunk saw a boulder shaking, and he swore he could faintly hear grunting coming from underneath it.

"Havlar!" Hunk called. "Over here!"

With Hunk on one end and Havlar on the other, they began to move the shaking boulder. His entire body hurt, and his fingers burned with each drop of adrenaline that helped him grip with every ounce of strength he could muster.

"The earth is your element correct?" Havlar growled. "Don't you have control over it?"

"Oh trust me I wish I was an earthbender." Hunk growled back. "That would make this so much easier!"

Lance and Pidge came in as well.

"We're gonna get you out of there Keith!" Lance shouted, trying to pry the boulder from the rest of the rocks.

Pidge helped with however much her tiny frame could. She noticed some dust and looked up and her eyes widened."Wait wait wait!"

Havlar growled and glared at her. "What? Does that tiny bladder of yours need to relieve itself again?"

"One, no!" Pidge shouted, punching Havlar in the arm. "Two, this boulder is a load bearing one! We move it and the rest of the rubble comes tumbling down!"

The three managed to pull the boulder some ways away but stopped, seeing some of the other rocks shift.

"That's what I've been trying to say!" Keith's glaring eye appeared in the newly opened crack. "We need to find another way! Shiro's knocked out! Red's coming but I don't know how long we can wait."

"Man Shiro has not had a good streak lately," Lance whined. "Okay so how do we move this without crushing them?"

Havlar looked to Hunk.

"Like I said, I wish I could control rocks and stuff but I can't!" Hunk patted the trouble-making boulder and felt something odd.

Nonsense.

The Yellow Lion sounded like it had a smirk on its face.

"What?" Hunk raised an eyebrow, looking up.

"What?" Havlar looked up as well.

"He's talking to the Lion." Lance explained.

The earth may crumble.

Hunk felt power flowing through him.

Water and wind may carve through mountains.

A yellow light shot through all of the rocks.

"I think we should stand back." Pidge said.

"Agreed." Lance put his arm in front of her as they backed up, half noticing how Havlar put his arm in front of him in turn.

But remains earth, firm and strong, all the same.

Another flash of light.

Hunk covered his eyes, feeling a new cloud of dust invading his still recovering lungs. The light went away, just enough to let Hunk open his eyes.

The pile of rubble was gone, and there sat Keith, equally if not more injured than Hunk, and Shiro, who was indeed out cold.

"How did you-?" Keith began to ask but shook his head. "Questions for later. Help me get him up!"

Hunk looked at his hand, seeing the yellow glow fade. and nodded to Keith. He slung one of Shiro's arms over his shoulder, with Keith getting the other side.

"Come on." Lance was half-leaning on Pidge for support. "We need to head back to the Castle."

"We need to capture those traitorous-!" Havlar began to argue.

"Havlar we're going back to the Castle to heal up or I swear on everything good in this universe no magic or science in this universe will fix what me and Ryou do to you!" Hunk shot the fiercest glare he could at Havlar, which seemed to work in making him back down.

"Fine." Havlar grumbled. "So long as you can do that-" he flexed his hand. "Trick again."

Hunk rolled his eyes and looked at his hand again, seeing the yellow glow emerge from his palm.

Go forth and carve the path, Paladin.

"Let's go."


	23. It's That Easy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will happily make a Spiderverse reference though haha
> 
> Also I should probably expand on the characters in this chapter more but that's for another day. Probably. Maybe.

"Can't believe we're actually doing this." Hunk grumbled as he put on the clunky Galra armor.

"It worked before." Lance shrugged, trying to keep his armor bits on.

"Yeah and Allura got kidnapped before!" Hunk argued.

"So Shiro could escape." Allura was not a happy camper about that comment. "I could have handled anything Zarkon and Haggar were planning."

"While no one questions that," Ryou was trying his best to expand the helmet that would go on Hunk's head, "the 'switch outfits with the guards to sneak in' routine is pretty dumb and risky."

"Ryou we did that all the time back when we were kids." Shiro raised an eyebrow, smiling. "And most of the time it was your idea."

"Shiro does crime confirm!" Lance hooted as Pidge dunked the slightly oversized helmet on his head. "OW!"

"Plus it's even more risky considering Hunk and Lance aren't exactly tall." Keith looked them up and down. "Or purple."

"They do, mostly, resemble the inhabitants of the planet, minus the pointed ears, the armored bellies, and lack of a third stomach." Coran noted. "They are also quite friendly with the Galra, if you've forgotten." Coran poked Keith's nose, much to the latter's annoyance.

"Coran, humans only have one stomach." Shiro corrected.

"Oh, well, try not to eat too much." Coran warned.

When they were done, Hunk and Lance were ready to go. There was a small fitting problem, especially when they had their Paladin armor underneath.

"Remember, you're playing a background character," Ryou advised. "Try to be the lead and you'll be caught."

"But I AM the lead." Lance smirked.

"No." Ryou lightly tapped Lance's head. "Just follow the crowd. Shadows are your friend. If all else fails, don't be afraid to go for the throat-"

"Ryou stop being a bad influence." Shiro, in turn, knocked Ryou on the head.

"Says you," Ryou nudged Shiro with his hip. "You guys need me to go with you?"

"Too many cooks spoils the stew," Keith also got in on knocking Ryou's head. "You're supposed to be helping Pidge hack into the generators."

Ryou, thoroughly miffed at having his head knocked about, sighed and conceded. "Alright alright."

"We'll be fine." Lance patted Ryou's head as well. "I'm an awesome actor!"

Hunk and Ryou exchanged an unconvinced look.

"We'll let you know if anything goes wrong." Hunk patted Ryou's head as the two of them went on their way.

On their way to the back entrance, they saw one local guard and he was a bit similar to Hunk in terms of their builds. Stocky, tall, though Hunk, second in height the whole team according to Coran, looked much shorter if he stood next to the guy.

"Okay, so how do we get in?" Hunk asked Lance, hiding their Paladin helmets under some bushes for retrieval later.

"I thought you had an idea?" Lance argued.

"What?" Hunk nearly shouted but kept it to a whisper. "Why would I have a plan? You said you were a great actor!"

"Yeah but you must have learned something from Ryou about improvising right?" Lance whisper shouted back.

"Oh like go for the throat?" Hunk glared. "Yeah, real solid plan there. No one's gonna notice the trail of knocked out guards!"

"Alright alright keep your pants on!" Lance gestured for Hunk to keep it down.

They heard the back entrance open, seeing that a Galra guard was now standing there as well.

"Nope." Hunk covered his eyes. "We're dead. We are so dead. The universe is doomed."

"Quiet!" Lance hissed, seeing that the two were holding the door open as they exchanged terse glances.

"Wanna take a quick break?" The Galra guard asked, holding up a clear purple bottle with a bubbly liquid inside it.

The other guard, after taking a quick but thankfully un-thorough look around, nodded and the two darted into the bushes.

"Now's our chance!" Lance whispered as he and Hunk slipped past the door as it was closing.

The door closed and the two were now inside, undetected.

"I can't believe that worked." Hunk looked back at the door.

"Just roll with it." Lance said as they began walking down the hall.

"HEY!" A voice roared at them.

"Crap." Hunk whimpered as they turned around, seeing another local guard. Feminine, judging by the slightest hint of curves in the form paired with a somewhat pitchy growling voice.

"Don't recognize the two of you." She came closer, examining them. "You new?"

Any words that were in Hunk's mind were caught in his throat, along with a raging wave of nausea.

"Yes!" Lance answered. "Just transferred over! And dare I say it is a pleasure to be working with someone as wonderful as you."

The guard scowled. "No one ever tells me anything." She sighed. "Come on," she began pushing them towards the other direction. "Newbies are to watch over the generators."

As they were led away, Lance gave Hunk a smile and a thumbs up.

Hunk rolled his eyes but if their enemies, an arguable label, would do half the work for them then who was he to complain?

They were put inside the generator room, where another pair of guards were promptly scared off.

"You got thirty dobashes before lunch time." She huffed and smiled. "And you two short stacks look like you need it."

"Thanks boss," Lance flashed her a smile. "We'll make sure nothing happens to the generators!"

"Uh," Hunk stammered, vowing to pay back the nudge Lance gave him at that moment. "Yeah. What he said."

The guard shook her head. "Just stick with me whenever you can and you two will do just fine."

She left them to their lonesome and Lance gave another smile to Hunk.

"Come on it can't be that easy." Hunk began to argue just as the air vent came off and out appeared Pidge and Ryou.

"Guess you owe me twenty bucks now." Pidge nudged Ryou, making him roll his eyes.

"What?" Lance looked up at them as they dropped down.

"I was worried one of you would totally mess this up and we'd have to do a whole action filled rescue." Ryou replied.

"Oh my god it's tha-" Hunk shook his head in disbelief. "What's next, the civilians suddenly change their minds about being friends with the Galra and revolt?"

"Hey we're two for two on luck on right." Lance shrugged. "Shiro and Keith should be working on that right now."

Hunk sighed. "Alright fine. Let's just get this over with."

Within twenty minutes, their job on the inside was done, Ryou and Pidge ninja-ed away, with more head pats for Ryou on the way out, and now was time for Lance and Hunk to do the same before the generator blew up, taking the whole station with it.

"Ugh this armor is killing me." Hunk whined as he and Lance made their way back to the back entrance when a familiar figure was lecturing the other two guards that were having some bubbly fun outside.

"You two work fast." She smiled at them for a moment. "Now all of you get your stinkin' hides out there and get those protesters in line!"

She pushed the questionably tipsy guards towards the front entrance while pushing Hunk and lance towards the back.

"Wouldn't we better use up front with the others?" Hunk asked, knowing that Shiro and Keith should be in that area as well.

"I like the cut of your scale kid, but if there's one thing that separates us from those high and mighty Galra, it's knowing that our future is in the youngins like you two." She patted their heads. "Shoot to down anything coming your way, only kill when absolutely necessary."

Lance and Hunk nodded.

"Vrepit Sa." Lance did the Galra salute. Hunk did the same but without saying the words.

"By the creed." She did a different salute back and jumped up onto the building, scaling it with a few leaps and leaped down the other side with a thundering roar.

"I think Havlar would like her." Lance noted as he took off his Galra helmet. "Both of them are tough on the outside but soft on the inside."

"Let's just ditch these hunks of metal and get back to the others." Hunk had some trouble getting his helmet off. "I'm sweating like a pig."

"Yeah I can smell it." Lance's nose scrunched up a bit as he, in an enviously and easy way, shook off the armor, swiped his Paladin helmet from its hiding place and slipped it on with one motion. "I think it goes without saying that I carried our part of the mission." He smirked.

"I get stage fright!" Hunk defensively said as they made their way to the other Paladins.


	24. In My Embrace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look another excuse to mention that I'm a fan of RWBY and the song "Home" from its soundtrack makes me feel so many feels

Lance wasn't feeling well that day. Some sort of space cold, not deadly but still plenty of aches and pains and lots of tissue was needed for his stuffy nose. Hunk was in the kitchen, making a simple soup for him that might be the best he could get to chicken soup.

"And it's sure to cure him?" Allura asked, looking into the pot.

"Not really but it'll make him feel better." Hunk smiled and shrugged. "Hopefully it's something he can keep down."

When the soup was done Hunk went to Lance's room, quarantined by Coran. There was already a mountain of snot covered tissues that were in various stages of being freshly used or drying up into crusty wads of cloth and mucus.

"Hey Lance," Hunk was being careful with the soup, nudging the tissues away from his path.

"Hey Hunk," Lance wheezed, trying to smile but suddenly having a coughing fit. "Ugh. I'm dying."

"It's just a cold." Hunk rolled his eyes but smiled. "Come on."

"Nooo." Lance whined.

"Eat." Hunk insisted.

"Don' wanna." Lance whined again, sniffling.

"You'll feel better." Hunk tried again.

"Uugghh." Lance dragged himself into a sitting position.

"There you go," Hunk handed over the soup bowl, leaning over a bit more to give Lance a quick hug. "Feel better soon buddy."

"You're a lifesaver man." Lance blew his nose.

"Anytime." Hunk smiled, preparing to bolt right into decontamination as soon he left Lance's room.

......

............

"WOO!" Hunk and Pidge hooted and gave each other celebrator high fives.

"Go Team Punk!" Pidge cheered.

"Take that super confusing alien technology! We just cracked your code!" Hunk did some trash talking the Altean laptop that hopefully won't come to life anytime soon.

Pidge stood and stretched, cracking her knuckles and neck with some satisfyingly audible pops.

"I believe this calls for some celebratory snacks." Hunk puffed his chest out and smiled proudly. "I say we take this party to the kitchen and whip up some food."

"What?" Pidge asked with some disbelief. "No no no, we're booting up the movie player, turning off our brains, and going on a musical marathon."

"Normally I'd agree with you but my hands need to de-stress and that means we're baking something." Hunk, gently, argued.

"Movie." Pidge asserted.

"Food." Hunk insisted.

They narrowed their eyes at each other and anyone watching would swear they were glaring literal lightning bolts.

"If I help with the baking I get first movie pick." Pidge's glare slightly softened.

"Only if I get to include my all time favorite on the marathon list." Hunk smirked.

"Ugh, fine." Pidge groaned but the agreement was sealed with a handshake. "I'll never understand why you like that movie so much."

"It is a classic!" Hunk argued.

Despite such a hiccup, Pidge still wound up leaning up against Hunk late into the movie marathon with said movie on.

"Pidge." Hunk whispered gently.

"I'm up." Pidge yawned.

"Of course you are." Hunk wrapped an arm around her, getting a blanket on her in the process since he had a feeling he might not be moving for a while.

......

............

After much convincing, Allura was finally allowed to cook as freely as she wanted.... so long as Hunk was supervising, according to Coran's one condition.

"Is it good?" Allura asked as Hunk was taste testing the final result of much guiding. She and the mice were anxious for the verdict.

Pausing to think, Hunk gave a smile. "It's good-"

He didn't get to say much after as Allura hugged him tight, squeezing both breath and half of Hunk's life out of him, though he did manage to get one arm wrapped around her to return the hug of death.

......

.............

"-and that is how a wizzle-watt generator works." Coran finished his explanation to a very tired and very sleepy Hunk.

"Cool." Hunk flashed a thumbs up and yawned. "Well, I'm heading to bed and hopefully not have any nightmares about that."

"Oh that's nothing compared to what it takes to get a-"

"Yeah yeah." Hunk pulled Coran into a quick hug, patting his shoulder as he pulled away. "G'night Coran."

Coran paused and smiled. "And good night to you Number 2."

......

............

"LOOK OUT!" Hunk tackled Keith out of the way of enemy fire, holding tight.

Keith, eyes wild with the heat of battle, blinked and realized he was in Hunk's arms.

"You okay?" Hunk asked, not seeing any serious injured on him.

"Y-yeah." Keith nodded, getting his bayard ready. "You okay?"

"Yep." Hunk answered. "Let's go kick some ass."

......

............

"So much for the Shirogane alcohol tolerance." Lance groaned as he and Hunk dragged a wobbly and incoherent Shiro to his room.

"Mmm fi-"Shiro hiccuped. "Fine. Juss- needa lie down."

"You need some water first." Lance said as the door opened.

Inside Shiro's room, Ryou, who was more wasted and already into his Sleepy Drunk phase, was already out for the count on the somewhat-messily laid out futon.

"I'll get some water for him," Lance, carefully, let himself go from Shiro's grip and went to look for a water bottle or something.

"Got it. Come on big guy, time for bed." Hunk tried to ease Shiro down onto the futon but nearly fell as Shiro wrapped his now free arm around Hunk's neck. "Oh shi-!"

"Iyaaa." Shiro whined in Japanese. "Ryou-chan."

"Ryou's on the bed Shiro." Hunk struggled to breath as Shiro's grip was pretty tight in his usual overprotective fashion.

As soon as Shiro was on the futon, he patted around and found Ryou, immediately pulling him close, both of them humming contently now.

"Ugh." Hunk shook off the stiffness just as lance came back with the water bottle.

"He's out?" Lance asked.

"Yep." Hunk sighed. "They're gonna have one hell of a hangover."

"Let's go ask Coran about hangover cures then." Hunk nodded and the two made one more check on the twins to make sure they wouldn't choke on their vomit in their sleep.

Sure enough, the twins were nothing but pained groans the next morning.

"Shouldn't have challenged the Wajas to a drinking contest." Coran told them as he whipped up a disgusting looking vegetable smoothie.

"Worth it." Ryou growled as Shiro chugged down some water.

"I'm okay. I'm fine." Shiro insisted, trying to stand. "No weird hangover cure please."

"Nope." Hunk sat him back down. "You and Ryou-chan are getting medicine whether you like it or not."

"Oh man you were fucked up last night." Ryou half laughed, half coughed, half groaned. "You haven't called me that in years."

Shiro's cheeks went bright red, and the color rushed out of his face as soon as Coran plopped down two tall cups of the hangover cure in front of them.

"Drink up!"

......

............

Hunk walked into the Galaxy Garrison's kitchen, ready to start working on food for the coronation party when he noticed the team was huddling around and whispering fiercely at each other.

"Alright what's going on?" Hunk narrowed his eyes at them.

They all froze and looked at him sheepishly.

"Hey Hunk." Lance said. "How are you feeling after your staycation?"

"Peachy." Hunk replied, seeing Allura in a casual outfit. "Aren't you gonna get ready?"

"Yes but we wanted to see how you were doing." Allura smiled.

"Guys I'm fi-" Hunk paused but kept his smile. "I'm doing better."

He really shouldn't have been surprised when they enveloped him in a big group hug.

"Okay okay, I love you guys too." Hunk sighed, feeling someone, possibly Ryou, ruffling his hair. "I gotta get the food started. Where's Yama and Kai?"

"Getting the seafood." Ryou replied, getting one last ruffle in as everyone pulled away.

"Do I even want to know what they have planned?" Hunk raised an eyebrow.

Shiro smiled sheepishly. "I think I heard them talking about a space eel."

Hunk sighed and smile. "Alright alright. Come on, we got a coronation to do!"

"Which means you-" Lance wrapped an arm around Allura. "Need to get your glam on."

And so started what would most definitely be a very busy day.


	25. Balance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So according to my notes, this one took like a whole business week to get done , partly because I was trying to come up with something and partly due to life, enjoy!
> 
> Oh and the part about Ryou and the arena and whatever comes from none other than headspacedad's "I See A Mirror" on tumblr, link to part 1 here: headspacedad.tumblr.com/post/160701409502/that-ask-about-ryou-going-searching-for-shiro-made ))

From everything he had heard about Shiro from their days at the Garrison, Hunk was sure that Takashi Shirogane, youngest and greatest ace pilot, would be some super cool mega-superstar that radiated coolness with every breath he took.

Now Hunk couldn't fault Shiro for being a bit paranoid and jumpy when he actually did meet him, the guy had just escaped space jail after all. But once Shiro did get into a rhythm as leader of Voltron, a title that he more or less shared with Allura, Hunk could see why Lance would idolize him.

Confident but not arrogant. Serious but not overbearing. Playful but still cool and mature.

Hunk felt he recognized this sort of personality but couldn't pinpoint where. It was a nurturing and guiding hand, one that always knew what to do and if he didn't, he wasn't afraid to try things out until he got it right. There was some similarities to his parents, his sister, and his uncle, but it wasn't quite exact.

"Hmmm." Hunk hummed in thought as he, after getting permission from Coran, took apart one of the Altean ships that had been sitting and collecting dust in their hangar.

Back to thinking, Hunk knew that Shiro's face was more than familiar, besides practically being the poster boy for the Galaxy Garrison, both figuratively and oh so literally.

"His brother did teach engineering at the Garrison," Keith said when Hunk brought it up to the team when Shiro was sparring with Allura.

"Oh yeah, you told me about him Hunk." Lance smiled. "How he's crazy and reckless and smelled like a dumpster fire all the time."

Pidge groaned. "Yep, that sounds familiar."

"Very familiar." Hunk sighed.

And there it was.

The leader and of Voltron was the older identical twin of Hunk's former engineering teacher.

Then again, the more he thought about it, the more it seemed to fit. Thinking even more about it made it make less sense than before.

How could Shiro, the man who took down monsters and heavens know what else and still find the strength to keep going, be related to the guy who regularly walked into class with some sort of fire or smoke or oil on him?

He figured it was a question for later, but later came sooner when they ended up rescuing his professor from a gladiator arena.

When Ryou, not professor or any other of his titles or rankings, stepped out of the cryopod, Hunk wasn't sure who else noticed his eyes going wide for a split second, as if he wasn't truly believing he was somewhere safe until he jumped into his brother's waiting arms. The two of them stayed like that for almost a full minute before Ryou waved his arm, grasping for something, looking up and his eyes, still sharp and hawk like but softened by tears of relief, found Keith and he pulled him into the hug.

"Hey Hunk," Ryou finally said after another full minute of hugging and crying.

"H-Hi Professor." Hunk smiled sheepishly. "Um, do you still care about those essays you left for the class before you, uh, left?"

"I don't know. Should I?" Ryou's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, back into that sharp glare he had when he first came into class.

"Nope!" Hunk waved his hands and shook his head. "We got them done! Just like you asked us to! Though if you ask me the sub they picked didn't really give us a fair grade for them."

Ryou snorted a little at that. "Well, I guess I have to fix that, don't I?"

"Didn't you resign?" Keith raised an eyebrow. "How are you going to redo grades for a class you don't teach anymore?"

"I have my ways." Was all Ryou said, getting a sigh from Shiro, who seemed used to this kind of thing.

Second verse, same as the first, as Ryou had gotten into his own rhythm pretty quickly.

"Guess they really are identical," Hunk muttered to himself as the memory faded into the back of his mind. "But they act really different."

Again, Lance's idolization wasn't for nothing. Shiro held himself high and the rest of the team couldn't help but try to follow suit. Ryou on the other hand....

"Yo Hunk!" Now that all of space was free game, Ryou was getting into a lot of things that no one human shold be getting into. "Look what I found!"

Hunk sighed, wondering when he got used to his former teacher's weirdness.

Ryou was still Ryou, and now that all formalities were dropped, he could truly go hogwild with his ideas. So many things he couldn't do before, be it because of budgeting, ethics, or any combination of those two, could now come to being and all he had to do was find enough materials for them.

When it came to fighting, Hunk saw another difference.

Shiro held back.

He was a tough and brutal fighter, but held back just a bit, and Hunk once saw the exact thought process behind it in Shiro's eyes once.

One second, he was filled with a primal rage that nothing could stop. The next, just as his Galra arm was aiming for his opponent's throat, he stopped. No matter what, Shiro would always stop before he went too far.

Ryou didn't hold back.

Hunk could almost see Ryou's eyes scanning his opponent, looking and locking onto any vital areas and aiming right for them with no hesitation.

And that scared Hunk. To know that the gentle if wild man he knew was capable and more than willing to permanently put down anyone in his way.

With a sigh, Hunk wiped some grime from his face and looked at the ship, now put back together exactly as he started it.

Shiro, the haunted man who did his best to keep himself together, doing what he thought was right.

Ryou, the lawless man who cared not for such things, doing what he deemed to be necessary.

"Guess I gotta see if it works." Hunk scratched the back of his head, trying to keep focus. He stretched out and in doing so, his eyes caught onto the dark grays of a Galra escape pod.

Looking at it, he saw sharp edges, a clear motif of the Galra Empire,a contrast to the sleek and soft rounded edges found all around the Castle.

Dark and light.

Conquerors and defenders.

Order and chaos.

"Come on, focus!" Hunk slapped his cheeks, sensing a soft chuckling sound in the back of his mind. "Oh yeah, just laugh it up Yellow!"

What is the phrase again? About coins.

Hunk sighed again, not really wanting to get into a philosophical debate with a sentient magical robot that lived for longer than human kind itself. "Back to work Yellow."

With another chuckling sound, the Yellow Lion's presence eased up.

Still, Hunk found himself making more comparisons.

Keith and Lance were almost always at each other's throats. Fire and water, ice and lava, red vs blue. Classic conflict yet they still managed to work together and when they did, it was a pretty intense sight to see.

Hunk and Pidge got along and could practically read each other's minds. Their respective colors went well together, just like their personalities, and it was rare for them to have any serious arguments.

And it would go without saying that despite being on opposite ends of Voltron, Lance, Hunk, and Shiro got along pretty well. Lance even did some sorcery to get Ryou to calm down for a few hours every week on what now known as Spa Day.

Speaking of, Ryou and Pidge did not get along, they could not be forced to get along, and any attempts often ended with the two of them deciding to work in opposite corners of whoever's work room they had somehow agreed to working in.

That surprised Hunk, considering he knew what Pidge's room was like. He figured they'd have more in common, especially when Ryou mentioned spending more time at the Holt household after the Kerberos event.

Then again, where Pidge isolated herself, Ryou kept contact with others, namely Keith and Mrs. Holt. That could be a factor in how they always seemed at odds, especially when they agreed to working in one of Pidge's favorite spaces.

"What's that ticking sound?" Hunk asked as he heard an odd tick-tick-ticking in the Altean ship when he turned it on.

Hunk couldn't imagine shutting himself off from his family like that. Sure, he'd want some alone time but to pull a stunt like Pidge did? Who apparently was really named Katie? Yeah, he couldn't imagine himself going to such extremes.

He and Lance came from big families, while the Holts seemed to be pretty close knit. Sure, he figured there could be an uncle or aunt somewhere, a cousin or two, maybe grandparents. But if they did exist, Pidge didn't say.

"Hmm." Hunk thought again. "The twins don't really mention their family a lot either."

Try as he might, there wasn't really a lot Hunk could remember being told about any of the older Shiroganes. One story about a grandfather clock, another tale of their grandmother's friends visiting and pinching their little cheeks to oblivion.

Besides that, nothing much.

"Then again it's not my place to pry about that." Hunk shrugged as he, hopefully, found and fixed the source of the ticking.

His mind wandered some more as he continued working.


	26. Letting Out Some Steam

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the Romelle here isn't my Romelle from Light Catcher. This is "Canon Romelle". Blonde Romelle. VLD Romelle who for some reason isn't Allura's cousin like in the original Old Voltron/Golion. Oh and I noticed I've slowly been building up to a special event... enjoy!

Things were still heating up, literally, figuratively, some other third -ly, and the kitchen was busier than a beehive in a flower shop or a squirrel getting ready for hibernation.

The Shiroganes were helping Coran with set up, minus the two, arguably, best cooks. Two Shiros were enough the kitchen and that was enough for Hunk. Thankfully, Ryou found the light and speaker system to be much more appealing and was actually working with Pidge on that front.

Lance was helping with the presentation side of things, namely helping Allura get fancied up. Well, it would be Lance if not for both Lance's and Hunk's family getting involved, along with some of the New Alteans who were more than excited to work with their new soon-to-be queen.

Keith, Krolia, and Kolivan were coordinating security, along with Shiro. The Blades of Marmora were tasked with scouting every inch of the facility for any possible trouble. Though after the first wild animal incident, they dialed it back and were told to be more gentle with wild life.

"How are things here Hunk?" Krolia asked as she weaved through all the cooks rushing to and fro with a certain cat-like grace.

"Doing just fine!" Hunk replied in between about three different tasks.

"Yama for the last time do not touch the oven!" Romelle shouted at the peg-footed clone-bro, who stuck his tongue out at her in response. "Quiznack." She groaned and pushed some of her blonde hair out of her face.

"Kai can you help with this?" Shay raised her voice a bit and a hand shot up from the commotion surrounding her.

"Coming!" Kai practically swam through the rush of chefs and staff going both directions. "What's up?"

"Sauce is done!" Sal shouted as he carefully but swiftly carried a large pot over to another station.

"Romelle! Keep your hands clean!" Hunk shouted over the hustle and bustle. It was a nitpick but so many things were happening at once.

Romelle threw her hands up and had a face asking what else was she supposed to do, with Hunk only able to respond with another uncertain but 'figure it out' look of his own.

"Alright," Krolia smiled and disappeared just as another rush of cooks ran by.

"Man that is a cool but weird trick." Hunk narrowed his eyes a bit.

More activity. From the corner of his eye, he saw Romelle handling a lot of things and was clearly getting close to being overwhelmed.

"Yama! Chopping duty!" Hunk shouted once Yama was done with another task. Not the best way to handle the kitchen but for the sake of Romelle's sanity, a little shuffle wouldn't hurt.

Another Blade appeared in the kitchen, practically a ghost as they walked perfectly in sync with the other chefs.

"Things are fine here," Hunk told the Blade, unsure which one it was.

Just like Krolia, the Blade disappeared.

Trying not to sigh, he turned around and was surprised. He saw that Lotor had somehow snuck into the kitchen and was talking to Romelle. Amidst the noise, Hunk couldn't hear what they were talking about, only seeing that Romelle was trying incredibly hard not to turn her chopping knife into a murder weapon.

He took his eyes off them for a second, giving his attention to a couple of the other tasks he was doing, hearing various shouts ranging from calls for ingredients to whatever Yama and Kai were on about between each other. Then he heard the one sound that made almost everyone stop and look.

Romelle slapped Lotor right across the face.

Hunk could see Romelle's other hand tighten around the knife before she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, set it down, and excused herself, leaving a stunned Lotor where he was.

"Not very cash money of you." Yama, having been in the station next to Romelle, said to Lotor in the quiet that followed.

"Oh boy." Hunk sighed. "Shay! Can you come take over?"

"Sure!" Shay nodded as Hunk took off his well earned chef hat and follow Romelle.

At first he wasn't sure where she had gone off to but once he heard the loud boom and identified it as the unmistakable sound of an Altean punching something, it was easy to track her down.

Right as he was about to turn the corner, he heard another voice. At first he thought it was Shiro, or Jiro's, but the tone was much more gentle than either of them.

"I don't want to talk." Romelle, her own voice wavering with either anger or tears or both, said to the other.

"Then don't." The other was Ryou, once Hunk was able to recognize the voice.

Peeking around the corner, Hunk saw that Romelle was standing in front of a fairly large dent in the wall, with Ryou standing off to the side with his back towards Hunk.

"Every time I see his face," Romelle was holding her hand, her shoulders shaking. "I see Bandor. I see his body, drained of all life. I see how Lotor treated him like common trash."

Ryou said nothing.

"How can the Paladins just forgive him?" Romelle asked angrily. "How!?"

Hunk felt his chest tighten. He wasn't exactly happy to see Lotor free to do whatever he wanted, especially after he admitted to killing one of his closest friends in paranoid cold blood. Allura would always have this face whenever his name was mentioned, Jiro would look uncomfortable, and the rest of the team, as far as Hunk knew, didn't really have that high of an opinion on him.

"They don't." Ryou shrugged a little, prompting a glare from Romelle. "As much as Lotor has hurt everyone, he's been hurt by Zarkon and Honerva as well."

"Oh so I should just forget how he killed my brother because he wanted approval from his parents?" That tone was ripe with a fury that Hunk never wanted to be on the receiving end of.

"No." Ryou shook his head, his voice surprisingly still gentle. "But would you kill Jiro because he's one of Honerva's creations? Doc? Hoshi? Any of them?"

"What?" Romelle was taken aback. "No. Of course not. They had no choice in that."

"No one really has a choice." Ryou sighed and scratched the back of his head. "He's trying to do better and make up for everything he and his parents did. I won't fault you if you never forgive him, but try not to do anything-" he paused and nodded to the wall. "Impulsive. I don't think raw strength alone is gonna cut it if he decides to fight back."

"Are you calling me weak?" Romelle glared.

"Not at all." Ryou shook his head again, shrugging as he did so. "Though if you wouldn't mind, I'd be happy to deal with him for you."

Romelle rolled her eyes. "I'm fine. Don't you have somewhere you need to be?"

"Not really." Ryou tilted his head and probably had a way too bright smile seeing as Romelle rolled her eyes even harder as he turned to walk around the corner where Hunk hid behind once more.

Ryou tossed a small smile as he walked past, much to Hunk's surprise, who knew for a fact that this Shirogane was supposed to be helping with the technical sides of things and far away from the kitchen.

Hunk, cautiously, came around the corner and was about to say something when Romelle looked back at him.

"I'm sorry for leaving during such an important time." She wiped her eyes. "I'll clean up and-"

"I don't like Lotor either." Hunk said bluntly, getting her attention. "I don't like him. I don't like how he talked so much about peace and harmony all while he was basically using you and the whole colony as livestock. But-" he didn't like how Romelle cringed at that word. "He was genuinely hoping we could work together despite being Zarkon's son. Obviously we're about a hundred steps back from that kind of partnership."

"Try over ten thousand, what's the word again, ears?" Romelle raised an eyebrow.

"Year." Hunk corrected.

"Right." Romelle sighed. "Earthlings are so strange. You only live a handful of, er, years and spend two thirds of it as helpless little things."

"Hey we make do." Hunk feigned offense, which managed a laugh out of Romelle.

She went to brush her hair out of her face again before pausing. "I should clean up and get back to helping."

"Yeah I left Shay in charge." Hunk said as they began walking back. "She's good at managing everyone but she's too nice sometimes and when we got Yama and Kai-"

"You left her in charge of those two?" Romelle narrowed her eyes.

"What can I say? When I see a friend who needs help, everything else goes right to the back burner." Hunk shrugged.

Romelle smiled, shaking her head a little. "He did mention he wasn't going to lead the Galra. Said he hadn't 'truly earned' it." She used air quotes, or at least she tried, it's the thought that counted.

"Yeah I heard about that. Who's this Hazar guy by the way?" Hunk asked. He heard Lotor mention him a few times, and Keith said he actually met him once and he apparently seemed to have a stick up his butt about honor and whatever.

Romelle shrugged. "He has Lotor's seal of approval, which I don't really care for."

"Fair point." Hunk said as they walked back into the kitchen. "Let's get our hands clean and back to cooking."

"Yes sir." Romelle saluted.

Once their hands were clean, Hunk saw Romelle get right back into the swing of things and stop Yama from introducing some large chunks of meat into a pot, much to Yama's chagrin. From his ever changing station, he saw her smiling more and handling more tasks than before.

The kitchen was a hot spot of activity once more and everything seemed to be going smoothly, all things considered.

But this was just the start of what would likely be a chaotic and trying day.


	27. Winter Wonderland

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Didn't know how familiar some of the Paladins would be with snow and since Altea apparently doesn't have rain but is full of mountains(if I remember the show/reading the wiki right), Allura and Coran definitely might not be familiar with it....*the author says while also not being familiar with the true coldness of snow* Enjoy!

The first time the Paladins came upon a planet with snow, some of them just couldn't believe it.

"Snowball fight!" Ryou cheered. "Come on Taka! We gotta!"

Shiro was unsure, abd it was clear on his face.

"Oh no." Allura interjected. "I could accept the Beach Day but the temperatures on this planet are far too dangerous for you!"

"I agree with the princess." Coran added. "You lot may be warm blooded but no amount of natural body heat can save you from a planet of full ice!"

Something about that made the twins' eyes spark up.

"What's the lowest temperature?" Shiro asked.

"Let's see," Coran turned his attention to the scans. "In your measurements, it would be about negative forty two degrees Fahrenheit, but most of the time it averages at around fifty."

The twins gave each other a look and smiled.

"We'll live." Shiro said.

"WHAT!?" Lance, Hunk, Pidge, Allura, and Coran shouted.

"That's way too cold!" Lance added.

"Same." Hunk tucked his hands to his chest. "My hands are too valuable!"

"Winter nights in the desert are my limit." Keith raised an eyebrow.

The twins looked to Pidge.

"No." She glared.

"Pathetic." Ryou raised his chin as if to try and physically look down on them. "Can't even handle a little eight inch layer of snow."

"Eight inc-!?" Lance sputtered again. "What!?"

Ryou was shaking his head and clicking his tongue in judgmental disgust. "And these are the great Defenders of the Universe?" He asked while leaning on Shiro's shoulders.

"They weren't born in the cold like we were." Shiro was going along with Ryou's little act.

"What do you mean?" Allura asked, now intrigued considering Shiro was in on it.

"Taka and I were born in such harsh weather conditions!" Ryou proudly declared. "We were molded by it!"

"The region we were born in has those exact temperatures." Shiro explained. "Negative forty two being a record lowest, of course."

Allura and Coran looked wide eyed at each other as Hunk and the others realized what this meant.

"Let's do some training down there." Shiro's smile, while not looking any different, felt much more devilish in nature now.

Down on the planet of ice and snow, the Paladins weren't entirely at the mercy of the elements. The Paladin armor shielded them from some of the cold, but not entirely.

"This sucks!" Lance whined.

"Hey, uh, guys?" Hunk looked around, noticing something was very off. "Where did the twins go?"

Keith's eyes widened as he whipped around, looking for them as well. "Oh god da-" He was hit in the face with a snowball.

As Lance laughed, Hunk was somewhere between smiling and laughing too, only for another snowball to hit Lance in the back of the head.

"Guess it's four on one." Pidge narrowed her eyes and started making a snowball.

Hunk looked back to the platform, seeing Allura and Coran still hadn't left the platform. He snuck past the three who were now enganged in a snowball fight with the hidden twin ninjas.

"You two okay?" Hunk asked, seeing Allura tentatively poking the snow with her foot.

Allura looked down and sighed. "We're fine. This weather is very much new to us."

"Same here." Hunk said with a small smile, seeing the mice shiver and cringe as they took some equally tentative steps.

"But Earth has this type of weather, aren't you familiar with it?" Coran asked as he stepped onto the snow.

"Not all of Earth has this kind of weather." Hunk looked around. "Lance and I come from more warmer climates, where snow is incredibly rare or not even heard of."

He still remembered the first time he heard of snow being real and not something he just saw on TV whenever Christmas rolled around. It sounded fake but once he understood the science of it, that it was just rain that had crystallized due to extremely cold temperatures, he wondered off and on what it felt like. It always looked so soft and light on TV, especially in a few animated movies.

"I still can't believe that Shiro and Ryou were born in such conditions." Allura said with some horror as she stepped onto the snow, getting used to the temperature.

"Trust me, they're kinda exaggerating." Hunk could see that Alteans were, seemingly adjusting pretty well to the cold. "They were most likely born in a nice cozy hospital room with, at best, a mild blizzard outside. Though there are certain populations of humans who are born and raised in icy places like this."

Allura, still a bit confused, smiled, then turned her attention to the snowball fight. "Another war game I presume?"

"Sorta." Hunk shrugged. "In my opinion it's much better to build things with the snow. Like a snowman or an igloo."

A snowball hit Coran in the head.

"Cold!" Coran cried.

"Get on our level old man!" Ryou yelled as he ducked behind some rocks.

"I'll show you old!" Coran did his best to make a snowball and chuck it back but it fell only a few feet away from his hand.

"HA!" Ryou laughed from.... somewhere.

As Coran went to join the fray, Hunk decided to show Allura other snow day fun, which his only reference was all the TV Christmas specials and various online pics of crazy detailed ice sculptures.

The snowmen were quite easy to do. Three fairly large snowballs stacked on top of each other, a few pebbles for the eyes and mouth, and they even managed to find two sticks to use as arms.

"It's adorable." Allura watched as the mice crawled up onto the stick-arms and gave it their seal of approval as well.

Hunk smiled, half thinking whether he should sacrifice a space carrot for the finishing touch but was now thinking of another snow activity. "Hey, wanna make a snow angel?"

"Is that like a snow man?" Allura asked, eyes bright and smile beaming.

"Not quite." Hunk looked for a empty and flat spot. "Watch, you lay down like this-" he figured snow would be cold but feeling it on the back of his neck made him, almost literally, freeze. He was about to jump back up but the expectant look in Allura's eyes made him stay down. "A-a-and y-y-you spread out y-y-your arms a-a-and legs."

He tried his best, and after a few passes, he got back up and they both inspected the result.

Allura tilted her head. "That's an angel?"

"Well," Hunk dusted himself off. "Kinda? Angels, supposedly, look like humans with bird wings."

"That doesn't seem possible." Allura looked at Hunk's back with a raised eyebrow.

"Well what do Altean deities look like?" Hunk shrugged.

Allura looked at the empty spot next to Hunk's snow angel. "Giant four armed beings who can control elements and know the secrets of the universe." She laid down and did her best to imitate what Hunk did.

"Here." Hunk held out his hand to help Allura up, regretting it a little when she held a bit too hard and he felt something crunch. "Hey it looks good!"

There were two snow angels and, besides being a bit crude, looked like angels to Hunk.

"Heads up!" Lance said as a snowball hit Allura in the back of the head.

There was a quiet as Allura looked back to the rest of the group, seeing that while Pidge and Coran were making an ice sculpture of their own, Lance, Keith, and the twins were still at war, and a snowball had missed its mark.

Now, Hunk knew another interesting scientific fact about snow. It was much more quiet with snow around because it absorbed sound like foam for a recording booth. And with Allura glaring like that, the quiet was much more menacing.

Allura immediately bent down and started making a few snowballs.

"Scatter!" Shiro yelled as the snowball hit him right in the back.

Hunk, after a wordless look from Allura, began making more and keeping them stocked up for her while she continued her furious flurry.

Even Pidge and Coran had abandoned their project as the snowballs continued to rain down.

"Regicide!" Ryou, with a wicked but light smile on his face, shouted as he yanked a string, allowing a snowball almost as tall himself to be flung into the air and right towards Allura.

"Pathetic." Allura smirked as she brought her arm back and...

Punched the snow boulder.

Hunk, and most likely the rest of the team, watched in amazement as the snow boulder broke apart at the blow. In the confusion, he almost missed Allura rushing across the field to deal one more attack. Ryou didn't know what hit him as she gently slapped a smaller snowball into his face.

"I win." Allura smiled, more innocently now. "That's how this works, right?"

Ryou didn't respond, still dumbfounded.

"Yeah." Shiro peeked out from where the quickly-made improvised catapult was. "That's definitely how it works."

All in all, it was an amazing day of training disguised as fun.


	28. Hear Me Roar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know almost nothing of Game of Thrones other than some memes, plot points, memes about plot points, and how it also suffered from a sucky ending after so much buildup. Does this have any relevance to this chapter besides the title being a reference to a family motto in GoT? Maybe. I don't. I wrote two versions of this chapter and still debating which one to post.

To absolutely no surprise, there was an incident in class.

Professor Shirogane had been trying to explain something while he was demonstrating said thing and it made a mess. He quickly got it under control, but he still got in trouble when another teacher came by.

Officially class was supposed to be suspended until a higher up came by to, in the words of the other teacher, put Professor Shirogane in his place and remind him he is a professional.

"So where were we?" Professor Shirogane said as soon as the other teacher left.

When a higher up did come, it was Iverson and once he saw who he was supposed to be lecturing, he sighed and shook his head.

"Did you at least clean it up?" Iverson asked, much to the shock of the other teacher.

Professor Shirogane just gestured to the desk, where a dirty towel was hanging over the edge.

Hunk really couldn't believe just how Professor Shirogane had Iverson so willing to go along with whatever dumb stunt he was doing.

"I don't." Professor Shirogane said when Hunk caught him during after school hours when he was working on something else in his personal office.

"What?" Hunk asked again, deciding to use this time to do some homework for other classes.

"Well," Professor Shirogane's shoulders moved and rolled as he continued working. "To be more accurate, they can't really afford to get rid of me."

"Really?" Hunk raised an eyebrow at that. He knew everyone at the Galaxy Garrison worked hard to be where they are but how hard did Professor Shirogane work to be considered too valuable?"

Professor Shirogane's hand reached out towards Hunk, palm up. "Screwdriver."

"Huh?" Hunk looked at the tool box sitting just out of his teacher's reach. "Oh." He handed the requested tool.

"Thanks." Professor Shirogane continued. "As I was saying, while they can technically afford to let me go and hire a new and proper engineer to replace me, that would be really stupid idea because almost no one would be able to replicate my work once I'm gone."

"So if a ship you design malfunctions, we're screwed?" The words had just left Hunk's mouth when he realized just how casual it was.

"Sort of." Professor Shirogane didn't mind it. "They're up to standard and whatever, but it's like a secret recipe." He pulled out, covered in oil and sweat, and let out a sigh, smiling. "And only I know the special ingredient."

Hunk's eyes went a little wide as he thought about it. Sure, professor Shirogane can make anything he was asked and with all the standard specs. But to be able to either sneak in materials or somehow make those specs better than standard was definitely a unique ability.

"So they can fire you but they don't want to risk failure by doing it?" Hunk handed over a towel.

"Yep." Professor Shirogane nodded and wiped his face. "Especially when I'm the head engineer on a pretty big project."

"Wait you're the-?" Hunk was surprised. "And you still find time to teach us?"

Professor Shirogane smiled again. "Yep. My sleep schedule is complete shite but it's worth it. I won't lie when I say you guys have the potential to become better than me." He grabbed two water bottles and tossed one to Hunk.

"R-really?" Hunk barely caught the water bottle as he felt his heart skip a beat. "You mean it?"

The professor hummed and nodded as he finished half the bottle in one go. "I'm already old."

"You're technically only like six," Hunk argued with a smile.

Good thing the professor liked jokes, or else Hunk would have been in trouble. "Bah. My mortal coil is gonna start showing its age in a few years. Who knows, I might even grow a beard."

Hunk tried to imagine what that would look like. "Uh no." He shook his head, his only frame of reference being a picture of Professor Shirogane's brother in a Santa costume a few years back.

"Yeah." Professor Shirogane nodded. "The Shirogane five o'clock shadow is more like a five day shadow. Takes a while to grow some stubble." He rubbed his chin and looked at his reflection in a large metal container nearby. "Ah, Taka's little goblin already calls us old timers." His smile seemed so light and soft, Hunk couldn't help but feel completely at ease.

"Oh come on Ryou, you're not that old." Hunk reassured his pro-

Oh no.

Professor Shirogane looked at him with a surprised expression, raising an eyebrow at Hunk began to panic and sputter.

"I didn't mean to-! I-I-I-! I swear I-!" Hunk was trying to think of something to say but all of his thoughts were disorganized. "I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry!"

Professor Shirogane rubbed his chin again, trying to stroke the non-existent facial hair. "It's okay."

"I know I know I-" Hunk paused. "Wait what?"

"If you feel comfortable calling me by my first name, then it's fine. I don't really mind." Professor Shirogane seemed to be completely serious. And by that, he was actually acting like nothing happened at all. "You know, despite my culture's thing about names and such."

Hunk didn't say anything but looked down. He really did just call his teacher by his first name. And somehow, that was worse than calling him 'dad'. Great, now Hunk was thinking this was some sort of karmic retribution for the time he sorta kinda went along with the teasing that occurred when Peter and Ava both did that exact thing.

"But I really do mean it when I say you kids can be better than me." Professor Shirogane went a few steps back in the conversation. "Who knows, you kids could grow up and be the first to work with alien technology."

Again, Hunk couldn't say much, his face still burning a bright red, even more so when a gloved hand clapped onto his head and ruffled his hair.

"Hey, it's fine. Really." He still had that easy smile on his face. "Tell you what, you can call me Professor Ryou if it makes it less awkward."

Hunk nodded. "O-okay."

Professor.... nodded and gestured to the door. "Now get going. Curfew's coming."

"Right." Hunk gathered his things, realizing he hadn't finished his homework. "Uh, thanks for letting me work in here Professor."

"Anytime, just don't be afraid." Professor smiled brightly as Hunk began making his way out the door. "Remember, risk yields wisdom! And you can't take risk without a little shot of courage!"

After finishing his homework in his room, and waving off Lance's pestering about why he looked so spooked, Hunk found himself alone with his thoughts.

Did I really just call my teacher by his first name? He asked himself. In Japanese culture, isn't that a thing only family and close friends can do? Can't be friends with a teacher. Well, it can happen but it's definitely not really something to be proud of, especially when it's basically putting on a large target for bullies to take a jab at.

Hunk tossed and turned as he tried to get comfortable.

But Professor R-.... Shirogane had said it was fine. It was like water off a duck's back to him. The whole class noticed it when some other officers called Professor Shirogane a leeching junk rat, among other insults, and all the Professor did was shrug and smile in response. He didn't care what they called him. He was awesome, he knew was awesome, and anyone who disagrees would apparently have to answer to his brother about it.

Compliments worked much the same way. Sure, he'd smile just a little wider and puff his chest out just a bit more, but no hot air could be seen inflating his already big ego, which had a substantial track record of successes to back it up. For as much as the Professor made a mess, he could walk the walk as much as he talked the talk.

Now that Hunk thought about it, he could have sworn the Professor stuttered a tiny bit after Peter called him 'dad' as his usual Cool Without Trying air deflated for a split second. When Ava, a few days later, did the same thing, once again he saw those hawk like eyes turn wide and owl-like with surprise.

"Because he took a risk," Hunk muttered to himself, trying not to wake up Lance.

In his youth, Professor Shirogane got his start in engineering when he took apart a time piece that belonged to his grandfather. When he put it back together, after some punishment and trial and error, it worked like new.

Professor Shirogane took a risk and ran with it, leading him to be the head engineer of some big project the Galaxy Garrison seemed to be planning, and it Hunk had to guess, it'd be another ambitious mission into deep space.

Hunk, eventually, fell asleep, feeling some new resolve....

Which lasted until he got to class.

"I heard Teach is feeling sick today," Kim said as he took his seat.

"He has been looking pretty tired lately," Dexter noted, glancing at Peter.

"I've seen him drink a whole pot of coffee a couple days ago." Peter added with a small disappointed look. "He said it was breakfast."

The more they talked, the more Hunk was second guessing what he wanted to do today.

Class started and in came the professor, looking a bit frazzled as he drank from a large thermos of what could only be assumed to be coffee.

"Good afternoon kiddos," he greeted, burping a bit. "Who volunteers to do our recap?"

A few hands shot up and as the professor scanned each candidate, the class was surprised to see Hunk shoot up to his feet.

"I'd like to do recap, Professor Ryou." Hunk said, standing at attention.

The class fell silent.

"When did you grow a pair?" Thomas whispered in surprise, though in the silence it was still pretty loud.

"Sure." Professor Ryou took another sip, swished the thermos around to check if it was empty, and set it on the table with a light thud. "Go ahead."

Not exactly how Hunk wanted to test the waters, but it was better than all the excuses he was making all day and, despite all his reservations about him, Professor Ryou was right. A little shot of courage made all the risks seem less scary.

"Yesterday," Hunk began. "We were working on Bernoulli's principle."


	29. Something Old, Something New

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CORAN! DESERVED! BETTER! I haven't actually watches Season 8 and I refuse to because if I don't watch it then it never happened! Allura is alive! Lotor's alive! Maybe Adam because the 3 year time skip just didn't happen in my fics but who knows where he is like dude you broke up with Shiro and I don't even know what's up with that Curtis guy but this is about Coran so ENJOY!

The coronation was set to start in an hour and the Paladins still needed to get dressed up.

"Where the quiznack are those ceremonial cups?" Coran shouted as he went through boxes and boxes.

"I put them away!" Ryou said, half dressed and hair a mess.

"Where!?" Coran kept searching.

"By the laser we-wait, no, I moved those a while ago." Ryou tried to think.

"How can you be so calm at a time like this?" Keith asked while Coran still ran around.

Ryou shrugged. "Crunch time's less awful if you've planned everything beforehand."

All of the Paladins were helping Coran, trying to make sense of the jumble of multiple organization systems that were mashed together. Pidge liked to color code while Keith let things pile up but would do so by a vague classification. Shiro, Hunk, and Lance were sensible human beings who actually put things away. Ryou was a magpie who hoarded like a fiend and tossed things to and fro yet was always able to tell where it landed despite not even looking half the time.

And when things were being moved from the Castle, whoever moved the stuff decided to toss in their system as well. Which meant everything was sorted neatly into Tools, Junk, Questionably Junk, and Don't Even Know What It Is Just Put It Somewhere across the various storage rooms in the Galaxy Garrison facility. Oh and wherever they decided to put special sparkly artifacts, such as the ceremonial stuff.

Right now, they were looking in the second storage room in the building and still nothing.

"We're getting nowhere like this." Coran growled in frustration. "Alright! We need to split up!"

"Uh Coran?" Shiro raised an eyebrow. "I know it's weird coming from me but are the cups really that important?"

"Yes!" Coran practically grew a couple feel in half a second just to lean over Shiro. "They are handcrafted and made with the finest metal! Also they're specially designed to detect nearly a dozen different types of poisons, so they're also practical."

"Right." Shiro smiled sheepishly. "Alright. Keith, Jiro, Pidge, you three check the west storage units, you'll get in two minutes if you hoof it. Lance, you, me and Ryou are searching east. Coran, Hunk, you two keep looking here."

"On it!" Jiro smiled.

"Why does the Garrison have so many storage places?" Keith muttered as the six of them went on their way.

After deeming the second storage room a bust, Coran and Hunk went on to the third room on the third floor. Third time should be the charm, right?

"Okay I'll take this side of the room, you take the-" Hunk looked at Coran, seeing him move more frantically. "Coran?"

"Just keep looking Number Two." Coran didn't seem to be listening.

"Coran." Hunk said again.

"We'll find them eventually."

"CORAN!" Hunk yelled.

He didn't want to, but it worked. Coran stopped and his shoulders drooped.

"Is this really about the cups?" Hunk, lowering his voice now, asked.

Coran sighed, turning to face Hunk and looking about ten or twenty years older. "He would have been so proud."

Hunk knew exactly what Coran was talking about.

"Melenore would have..." Coran didn't look Hunk in the eye, but the tears welling up were quite visible. "All of them, really. Even Zarkon..." He sat down and sighed.

Hunk sat next to him, putting a hand on Coran's shoulder.

"Allura didn't want this at first." Coran kept saying. "That if there were any Alteans out there, that she couldn't be half the ruler Melenore and Alfor were. And I told her that, in the best of ways, it was true. Because she would be better. She would be a hero who reunited our people and brought peace to the universe that has suffered for so long."

The long lost princess who awoke when all hope was abandoned. Who rallied heroes who could fight the hardest battles and protect those who couldn't protect themselves. A near literal goddess who was kind and gentle but a nightmare on the battlefield.

A warrior queen.

The Yellow Lion said, seemingly nodding in agreement.

How's the search going? Hunk mentally asked.

Could be better.

Right. Hunk looked back to Coran, seeing him with a small sad smile on his face.

"There would have been a whole festival." Coran continued. "A whole movement of celebration, fine food, and games. There would have been a tournament among the best fighters."

"What was the grand prize?" Hunk asked.

Coran wiped a tear from his eye. "Well, traditionally, it's being the right hand guard during the coronation. Romelle said it was too barbaric." Coran scowled somewhat pettily. "That there's been enough fighting."

"Ah, so that's why that sports festival about." Hunk remembered seeing a few texts about it from the clone-bros. Apparently Shiro and Ryou did intervene and suggested a sports festival, where there could still be a competition but also a focus on working together as a team.

"Yes." Coran sighed and straightened out his shoulders. "If I'm being honest, it was a good idea."

Hunk smiled. "You know, it could be a new traditional event. An anniversary of when peace was established."

Coran narrowed his eyes, raised his eyebrows, and smiled. "You make a good point. But right now, we need to keep you lot from getting poisoned."

"Right."

They stood up and went back to searching.

Hunk kept glancing at Coran, noticing his mood was slightly better now that he had a good moment of release.

Coran was a man of tradition, from an old school that was much older than Allura. He was a man who saw the first Paladins form their friendships and saw it break down. Any friends he had were most likely long gone. Even his role as adviser was shakey, as a lot of his information was outdated at best.

Foundations, Hunk thought to himself again. Even if everything he knew had changed, the basic fundamentals were still there.

Pirates were indeed at the space mall.

The Balmera, though scarred from countless years of damage from the Galra, was still a beautiful creature and it's where Hunk fully realized he had to take his new role as a Paladin seriously.

Found.

"What?" Hunk looked up, sensing a giddy relief from his Lion.

"What?" Coran looked up as well, seeing nothing.

Found.

The Yellow Lion repeated and Hunk could hear a few more voices that he, after some speculation and remembering the whole mind link thing, figured to be the other Lions.

"Yellow says the others found the cups." Hunk relayed what he could to Coran.

"Great!" Coran looked at his watch. "And with half a varga to go!"

Once they we regrouped, the Paladins now to get dressed in their equally important ceremonial armor. Jiro had to get some new clothes of his own, but after some arguments, he was allowed to have his regular Paladin armor as formal attire.

"Mom please-" Keith was fidgeting as Krolia was fixing his hair.

"Just a moment." Krolia had a proud smile on her face.

"Mom it's fine-" Keith was smiling too but the red in his cheeks said otherwise.

Krolia gave a nostalgic sigh. "Just like your father. Always fussy about the hair."

Lance and Hunk were getting similar treatment from their families, especially with the younger kids wanting to play with their capes.

"Hey where's Shiro?" Pidge asked as Colleen was fussing over Matt.

"The whole clan needs their own room." Keith said, his hair now slicked back.

Coran, dressed in his best, entered the room.

"The ceremony will begin shortly," he smiled brightly.

There was a bittersweet tone in the air, more sweet than bitter, as their families had to go and let the Paladins take their spot.

"We're so proud of you," Hunk's mom gave him one last kiss on the cheek as they shared a hug, and Hunk really had to try to not let the waterworks come flooding out.

A hand clapped onto Hunk's shoulder.

"Come on now Number Two," Coran smiled. "Today's a day of celebration."

Hunk chuckled a little. "Don't you mean quintent?"

"It's a strange word, but there's a charm in it." Coran shrugged, his smile still warm.

And just when things seemed to be going well, there was a crash in the next room and the sound of birds squawking.

"Can never leave them alone, can we?" Coran asked, giving Hunk a knowing look.

"Nope." Hunk returned the look, mentally sighing as the bird squawking intensified.


	30. How Our Lives Change

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *insert another RWBY song here, "All Our Days"*
> 
> Yo listen I am so sorry for not really including Hunk's family but we can all agree that found family is just as dope don't burn me at the stake I think only like one person in Hunk's family got a name and everyone else, *squints at the wiki where they're all listed as "unnamed"*...yeah.

Hunk could remember the day he got his acceptance letter from the Galaxy Garrison. Days of nervously waiting, praying, hoping, and lots of stress baking finally came to end when his sister had excitedly screamed when she went to check the mail.

He had heard that it was easy to tell an acceptance letter from one of rejection, as apparently a rejection letter would be just that: a letter. In huge contrast, an acceptance letter would come with more than just a congratulations. There would be extra material detailing the different classes and career paths and such and that's exactly what Hunk hoped to be in that thick manila envelope with the Galaxy Garrison's logo on it.

Still, reading it out loud was a huge relief.

There were tears, lots of cheering, and dinner was extraordinarily special that night. No matter how much he insisted on helping his family insisted that he was getting special treatment for the night and not to worry his brilliant little head about anything. It was nice for a change, especially when he realized just how much food had piled up from his stress baking.

The day he went to move into the dorms was pretty similar. He promised to call regularly, and to let them know he was doing okay and yes he was studying and yes he'd do his best to make friends and other pleasantries.

And make friends he did, once he got past the cut throat individuals who acted high and mighty for whatever reason. His class became quite tight knit, and for once he didn't completely dread going to class.

When he realized he was going to be in space doing this whole Voltron nonsense, he tried not to think too hard about them learning that he was missing.

To not think about his parents wondering what happened. Whether the higher ups would call it a training accident or simply say that he, Lance, and Pidge disappeared out of nowhere.

Not thinking about how they would get the news. Would the Garrison even tell them? Would it be on the news like what happened on Kerberos?

Don't think about it. He told himself. Don't think about it, don't think about it, don't think!

After getting a bit more used to things around the Castle, telling himself it was still something like the dorms, he found that it was pretty chill most of the time. Of course, once he fully blocked out having to save the whole universe thing.

Lance and Pidge were the easiest to get used to. Pidge still did hi-wait, her, Pidge was actually a girl. Pidge did still her thing. Lance was having fun with the Altean beauty products and may or may not have been planning on how to pose for the cameras since the Paladins were apparently going to be something like celebrities.

Keith was.... stand off-ish, to say the least. He would often cling to Shiro like a cat to a tree when a dog ran by, but as the days went by he seemed to loosen up. Still, it wasn't too uncommon to find that he had positioned himself at Shiro's door in the middle of the night. And on those nights, Hunk would manage to convince him to come with him to the kitchen and have a midnight snack, usually something that Hunk was making.

Shiro seemed to have himself together until he froze during training. At that, Hunk instantly knew that something was wrong and he would make it his mission to make sure he had a shoulder to lean on when he needed it.

Allura and Coran were much the same. They were focused on defeating Zarkon and liberating the universe from his rule, but it wouldn't bring back their home planet. Like with Shiro, Hunk would make it a point to help them whenever they felt their lowest.

When Ryou joined the team, Shiro's mood almost did a complete one eighty. Sure, he would still freeze every so often, but not as often as before. He'd skulk around at night but now instead of being a ghostly figure he'd often be singing or humming or even dancing, which was a wonderful sight to see.

And the Lions-man the Lions.

He loved talking to Yellow, after getting past the weird telepathy thing. He felt comfortable knowing that even when he was physically alone, he never really was. One thought and Yellow would be right beside him. And honestly, Hunk really needed that. Yellow had some words of advice, but often he just needed someone to listen.

Listen they did. All of them. The Lions chatted among each other as well. Sometimes he could hear it, a faint rustle of activity in the back of his head. Most of the time, they kept the chatter to themselves, often just talking about the Paladins. But sometimes, Yellow would tell Hunk that he needed to check on someone in that instant, work be damned.

By the time they got back to Earth, after trials and tribulations and the team expanding more and more, he couldn't imagine things going back to the way there were.

Now, he couldn't imagine not hanging out with the team. He couldn't picture himself away from the team for too long. Sure, personal space and me time were obvious needs of his but pretending that they didn't go through life or death battles. More than that, and this was something he never really thought about, there was a literal universe of flavors and foods he was going to be exploring the rest of his life.

Seeing his family again.... seeing home again.... no words could describe just how much he cried and how long he held onto them, feeling smaller despite them constantly saying how much he grew while he was away.

"Don't squish them!" He heard Odin yelling amidst the squawking.

Hunk looked into the second room where the Shiroganes were getting ready.

Doc, Hoshi, and Sora were by the window, where Hoshi was soaking up the sun while Doc was fixing up Sora's tie.

"Sit!" Yama yelled while trying to keep Muns in his arms. "Still!"

Kai was trying to wrap something around the bird's neck. From the way Odin was holding Hugs and Ryou had calmly finished up with it, it seemed the birds were getting fancied up with bowties.

"You guys good?" Hunk asked.

"Yep." Shiro had just finished up fixing Jack's hair and the clone-bro was hating every second of the action. "We'll be out in a minute."

Hunk nodded, seeing that everyone, even the birds now, were indeed done getting dressed.

"Alright." He smiled and flashed a thumbs up. "We got a few minutes."

Back in the hallway, he saw Keith was still getting fussed over by Krolia. He wasn't really fighting it but he was definitely embarrassed. He could tell but then again Keith was bit of an open book at times, and judging by the tiny smile he had, Keith was, on some level, enjoying the fact that a person other than Shiro was pampering him.

Lance was still hovering with his family, and was right in the middle of a story about how he totally fought a giant water monster all by himself.

"Are you talking about the Baku or the Valorex?" Hunk flashed a smirk at him. "Because the Valorex wasn't really much of a fight."

"Dude!" Lance whisper-hissed. "I'm trying to be the cool uncle!"

"Did you tell them about the time you got tied to a tree?" Hunk smirked again.

"Dude." Lance seemed mad but he smiled back.

"Don't worry Uncle, you're still cool!" Lance's nephew smiled at him.

Lance sighed. "You gonna be okay out there? Stage fright and all?"

Hunk thought about it. So long as he didn't trip on his cape he'd be fine. "Yeah. I think I'll be okay."

They shared a fist bump and outside, not exactly where the ceremony would be but at the approximate backstage area, Hunk peeked out to see his family sitting nearby. He waved, still feeling giddy about everything going on.

He saw Allura pacing around and there was a brief moment where time seemed to slow down.

Briefly, she looked as ethereal as the day they found her. Ten times fancier with the new formal dress, which was mostly a light shade of blue that faded to white at the bottom and the sleeves and had a bunch of sequins that glittered a rainbow of colors. Her hair was done up, and the mice were trying to put the finishing touches while she still rushed around in circles, her dress trailing behind her.

"Allura?" Hunk knocked on the nearest thing. "You okay?"

"Hunk-!" She tried to straighten herself out. "You need to get into position, the ceremony's about to start."

"It's not gonna take forever to walk a few feet away." Hunk smiled at her. "It's okay to be nervous, okay?"

Allura took a deep breath and nodded. "Right. We've been through things far worse than this." She tried to laugh a bit.

"Hey Allura," Shiro joined in, with Lance, Keith, Pidge, and Coran behind him. "Feeling okay?"

She looked at everyone and smiled. "Now I am."

"I know this is a little weird coming from me, but-" Keith began to say. "But how about a group hug? Just to ease our nerves a bit?"

Lance clapped a hand on Keith's shoulder. "Not a bad idea Mullet."

As the group pulled each other into a big hug, Allura suddenly pulled out.

"Shiro! Did you prepare your speech?" She asked wide eyed.

"My-?" Shiro was surprised. "I was supposed to do a speech?"

"Quick!" Pidge shouted. "Do your Talk No Jutsu!"

Shiro seemed to be a bit taken aback by that, even looking around as if to find some paper, until Allura began laughing.

They all looked at her in various stages of surprise.

"Kidding." Allura smiled and giggled.

"Okay Lance did you teach her that?" Shiro looked at him with a smile.

"Why do you instantly blame me?" Lance smiled back. "It could have been Ryou for all we know!"

"Or Hunk." Pidge nudged Hunk's shoulder.

"Says the Slytherin." Hunk nudged her back.

They laughed and with an impatient clap from Ryou, they went and took their places as a team.

No, Hunk felt Yellow's presence nudging a different word to the front of his mind as the ceremony began.

As a family.


	31. All Our Days

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look the title reference is even more obvious now.
> 
> But here we are. Hunkuary has come to a close and I hope you all enjoyed this as much as I did, because as much as projects like these are a pain in my behind*looks at last year's Shirotember that I may post here sooner or later*, I do love writing them and sharing them with you wonderful readers. Without any further dilly dallying, here's the final chapter of Hunkuary, enjoy.

In all honesty, if Hunk was asked what exact words were said at the coronation, he wouldn't be able to tell.

Yes he heard them loud and clear. Every word clung to him, feeling as though they were igniting a great fire within his soul that was soothing and gentle despite the intensity. The glittering crown, one of Ryou's masterpieces that he worked tirelessly on for almost two weeks, shined brightly in the daylight and if asked, Hunk would definitely say it seemed to glow brighter as it now sat on Allura's head.

The cheers that followed roared as mighty as the Lions, as if the people, no longer just Earthlings, Galra, New Alteans, or any other alien race, but now a single thriving populace, were trying to awaken a slumbering beast that laid deep in the ground beneath them.

And in all honesty, Hunk was really trying not to become a blubbering mess, blaming his teary eyes on the sun that was definitely hitting him right in the eye.

After all formalities were said and done, Allura had changed into a different but still pretty and shiny dress for the rest of the event. The Paladins, also having changed into something a bit more comfortable but still fancy, had split up to enjoy more of the celebration. Talking, dancing, drinking what was available and boy was someone drinking up a storm.

"Jack no-!" Hunk could hear one of the Shiroganes yelling.

"Jack yes!" Jack yelled back, holding a whole wine bottle in his hand. "We're clones of you so our tolerance is insane!"

"That's not how it works! We had to work up to that!" Shiro yelled back.

Hunk smiled and shook his head, having long realized that this was the new normal.

"So what are the Paladins going to do now?" His sister asked, seeing Keith talking with some Blades in a certain manager-type way.

"Probably more diplomatic missions now," Hunk shrugged, feeling a bit sorry for Keith because he knew just how important security would need to be at this event, also knowing that somewhere else Krolia and Kolivan were also keeping an eye out. "We don't have much of an enemy to fight now. And there's more power hungry baddies that need to be dealt with-" he noticed his mother giving a certain look. "In a peaceful manner of course."

She sighed and nodded, still a bit proud though and that was all Hunk could ask for.

Looking around again, Hunk saw that someone, a Galaxy Garrison officer who seemed a bit familiar, was talking to Shiro, nervous as hell and trying to navigate the sea of Shiroganes.

"Someone has it bad." His sister teased as they whole family watched as Shiro was asked for a dance. They kept watching, seeing that Shiro was taken aback as he tried to think of an answer until the others just shoved him away to answer for him.

"You know, I can see it." Hunk shrugged again as he smiled, seeing that Shiro was happy once he got past the awkwardness.

"Hunk?"

Someone, possibly his mother, nudged him and as he turned around he saw Shay in a simple but stunning dress.

"Would you like to dance?" Shay asked with a smile.

Now Hunk was at a loss for words and he could hear his niece and nephew giggling.

"Oh-uh-um, s-sure-!" Hunk set down his glass of orange juice, now thinking of revenge for all the teasing, and was hoping he wouldn't look half as awkward as Shiro.

He took another glance around, seeing Lance was dancing with Allura and the two of them were absolutely glowing with joy. Pidge and Matt were sitting and enjoying the view, though it was easy to see that they were more or less still in work mode and thinking of new ways to play around with tech.

Steady, Paladin.

Yellow had a small laugh in his voice as he urged Hunk to keep his focus on his dance with Shay.

Right, Hunk could feel his cheeks burning with a different intensity.

"I do not think I have properly thanked you for everything." Shay smiled at him.

"Huh?" Hunk looked up at her. "O-oh. You don't need to thank me. I-" he smiled at her, feeling less tense around her. "I really should be thanking you."

"For what?" Shay asked.

"Before we saved the Balmera, I wasn't taking the whole Paladin of Voltron, defender of the universe thing seriously." Hunk admitted. "I honestly suggested we just give the Lions to Zarkon so I could go home and forget the whole thing happened. But..." Hunk looked up at her and smiled again. "You changed my mind. You made me see that I can't be a coward and hide and hope that all the horrible things would just tide itself over. And as an engineer, I should have seen that way earlier. I should have thought about how I could help fix all of this."

Shay's expression changed with each word. He could see that she was disappointed in him when he said he wanted to go home and let the universe be overrun by Zarkon and his forces, but it seemed she understood why, and when she did, she smiled warmly.

She was about to say something when she did a double take and tapped Hunk's shoulder.

Looking over, Hunk could see that Lotor, still being hounded by his-former?-generals, was trying to ask Allura for a dance now, who seemed to be conflicted about whether she should politely decline or accept. Lance was standing by, looking between Allura and Lotor and trying to judge whether it would be okay or not.

"Should you go over there and handle it?" Shay asked.

"Uh-" Hunk watched as Lotor swallowed what was left of his hesitation and presented a juniberry flower to Allura. That was enough to break her aloofness and she, somewhat reluctantly, accepted his hand to dance. "I think they got it covered."

More mingling. Hunk saw his classmates, former? whatever, milling about here and there. Ava and Peter were on the sidelines, wordlessly taking in the atmosphere. Charlie had struck up a conversation with a Mer. Lizz was dragging Thomas around, much to his embarrassment. Kim had gotten into a heated discussion with a Galra about something and they didn't seem to be anywhere near stopping soon.

Even the MFEs were enjoying the calm, though they were still getting used to the whole idea of all their training being somewhat for naught.

It might have been around midnight when the festivities died down. Jack got too drunk and had to be dragged around on one Odin's shoulders, with Yama being on the other, and Shiro was still red faced as he parted with the equally bashful officer who asked him to dance earlier. Doc, Hoshi, and Sora had long disappeared from the party, as crowds were also enough for Hoshi's fears to kick in. Strangely, Hunk couldn't exactly remember where Ryou had run off too after a certain point.

Keith, yawning and his social battery thoroughly drained, was leaning on Lance, who also looked pretty tired, and the two of them looked like the next soft surface they encountered would officially be a bed whether it actually was or not. Allura had to pick them up and with Shiro's help, they managed to get them to bed proper.

Coran was still out, helping with clean up and getting the reports from the Blades. He was also glowing with pride, and once or a dozen times Hunk saw him crying and hugging Allura during the party. Pidge was helping with the lights, getting Jiro to help too.

Thinking nothing of it, Hunk had one last thing to take care of before he can officially clock out.

In the kitchen, Hunk needed to check over some paperwork really quick. Just making sure how much ingredients were left, which ones they needed to stock up on, same for all the tools because Romelle accidentally broke a few things during the rush earlier that morning.

Speaking of, he saw her, the bright blonde hair being quite the dead giveaway, in the kitchen with one of the Shiroganes. Judging by body language and the outfit, it was Ryou.

"-and when at night, with the cool desert air rushing by, sometimes I look up at the stars and think, yeah, I understand it now. Why Taka loves them so much, you know?" Ryou was eating some of the leftovers that, at Hunk's insistence, were not being thrown away.

"I don't know," Romelle replied, a smile on her face as she picked at some food. "I think I'd prefer staying on the ground. Sure, the stars and pretty and all but it's cold out there as well. Down here, it's-" she paused. "Warmer. Safer too."

"I know right!" Ryou cheered, some food in his mouth. "Finally! Someone who agrees with me!"

Romelle laughed at that, Ryou did too, and there was a special way they looked into each other's eyes.

On second thought, Hunk thought, he could check inventory tomorrow if he got to work extra early.

"And you're sure you're gonna be okay?" His dad asked over the phone.

"Yeah, Kolivan has Blades running around everywhere," Hunk answered as he looked and indeed saw a shadow moving past the hallway. "Besides, who's dumb enough to try and attack us in our sleep?"

"If you say so son," his dad sighed but Hunk could hear the smile on his face. "Don't overwork yourself again."

"Actually please do!" He could hear his sister yell. "I miss having a little brother to baby!"

"You have kids?" Hunk raised an eyebrow.

"We're not babies!" His niece and nephew argued.

They shared a laugh and with a dozen more good nights exchanged, Hunk settled down into his bed and looked out, seeing the Lions nearby.

"Got any plans big guy?" Hunk yawned and asked.

The way I see it, we can do what we want.

Yellow sounded firm, making Hunk laugh tiredly.

"Yeah." Hunk looked at the clock, seeing he could get about five or so hours of sleep if he went to sleep at that second. "It's smooth sailing from here."

Are we still needed?

Hunk was surprised. "What do you mean?"

Is Voltron needed.

That sounded more like a statement for some reason. "Yellow," Hunk felt hesitation from his Lion. "You're not just needed. We want you guys around. You're part of the family too."

Yellow,after pausing to think, sounded content.

"Good night big guy. See you in the morning." Hunk yawned again.

In the morning.

Hunk closed his eyes, feeling confident that whatever tomorrow had in store, it was going to be a mole hill compared to the mountains they had just conquered.

**Author's Note:**

> Starting off with @headspacedad's "Instructor Ryou" fic written from Hunk's perspective. Don't know how to link besides just copy/pasting so Ryou's perspective here: headspacedad.tumblr.com/post/162711579662/i-think-you-reblogged-a-thingor-maybe-another
> 
> I'll try to add chapter notes and warnings when I can!


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